Darla and Amber's Parent Trap
by PerkyGoth14
Summary: Darla and Amber are off to spend the summer in Camp Walden. There, they meet their new friends Annie James and Hallie Parker who not only look very identical with each other, but they are actually long-lost twin sisters. Darla and Amber then decide to help Annie and Hallie reunite their parents by switching places to find out why their parents separated in the first place.
1. Chapter 1

"Oh, Darla, you're almost a teenager..." Jessica hugged her little sister. "And you're off to spend the summer at my childhood summer camp... I know this is no Camp Little Moose, but you'll make loads of new friends here, and best of all, Amber will be there too."

"Yeah, luckily I'll get to see her before she sees her Aunt Anita and Uncle Roger in London." Darla hugged her big sister back as she was packed to spend eight weeks at summer camp this year.

"Are we almost there yet? We can't breathe." Patch and Maisy muffled from her luggage.

Darla opened one bag to see the puppy and kitten before she folded her arms with a smirk.

"What're you two doing in there?" Jessica giggled to the pets.

"We wanted to come with." Maisy said.

"Of course you did..." Darla replied.

"Well, we can't let our big girl go out into the world alone." Patch replied.

Darla rolled her eyes. "Guys, I'm almost twelve!" she then whined.

"We know, but we don't want to miss out on anything you might experience at camp." Patch said.

"Well... I guess you could come as long as you don't cause too much trouble." Darla replied.

"So, what're Roger and Anita going to do in London?" Patch asked curiously.

"I hear Anita's going to see an old friend of hers who has a daughter that wants to meet Amber," Darla said. "I wish I could go too, but I should let my best friend be with her family, we have eight whole weeks together."

"Don't you have to meet another girl as well?" Jessica asked.

"Oh, yeah, did I tell you?" Darla replied. "I've been exchanging letters with a girl named Hallie from California."

"I know you'll miss being with Amber, but you should spend some time with new friends." Jessica smiled.

"And I plan to." Darla replied maturely as she was almost twelve now and excited to start this experience.

"So then, what are we waiting for? Let's get this bag zipped up and get ready for the trip to the camp." Maisy smiled.

"Okay, get comfortable..." Jessica told them.

Atticus walked over to Darla. "Have a good time, kiddo..." he then hugged her nice and tight, but didn't use all of his strength. "We'll miss you so much."

"I'll miss you too." Darla smiled.

"Now, remember, I want you to be on your best behavior," Atticus told her. "Remember what I said about meeting Robyn. I know you have a lot of old friends and you might not feel like you might need a new friend, but look, you mailed that girl Hallie Parker once a week during the school year and you two sound close already even though you've never met each other, but you'll spend time together before you start school in the Fall."

"Yes, Atticus..." Darla nodded to her big brother. "I know a lot better... I'm almost twelve."

"Yes, but you'll always be that little seven year old girl we met back in Hollywood..." Atticus smiled with joyful tears in his eyes.

"I know." Darla smiled.

Atticus wiped his eyes.

"Okay, kiddo, let's get going." Jessica smiled as she got into her car and was ready to drive off.

Darla hugged Atticus one last time and dashed to the car and sat in the passenger seat and hooked up once her bags were ready to go to camp. "We're going!"

"Yay!" Patch and Maisy muffled.

Cherry and Mo came to Atticus's sides.

"My little sister's all grown up!" Atticus cried out before grabbing Cherry by her hood and blowing his nose into it.

"Hey!" Cherry glared as she sharply turned to him.

"Oops, sorry." Atticus smiled sheepishly.

Cherry narrowed her eyes in disgust.

* * *

Jessica had a long drive ahead of her. When the drive took longer than anticipated, Darla was with a blanket and pillow to sleep some of the trip away. Patrick and Emily were happy enough to drive Darla to camp, but since Jessica went to this very camp when she was Darla's age and it would be a good chance for the two to bond as sisters, they allowed her to do it. Plus, Jessica would get to experience having a road trip with a child as she really wanted to be a mother someday.

Patch and Maisy tried their best to not get too uncomfortable in the bag. It was a bit snug, but luckily, not terribly bad as Patch made it comfortable for both of them. Darla had a strange feeling deep inside herself that this trip would be more than meets the eye. The trip to the camp was a long one, but they soon arrived there. Jessica stopped the car and shook her little sister.

"Ugh..." Darla groaned. "Are we there yet...?"

"The last fifty times you asked that, the answer was no," Jessica narrowed her eyes before smiling to show the front gate of the campsite. "This time, the answer's yes!"

"Wahoo!" Darla cheered.

Jessica smiled as she then did a quick drive in and then stopped her car.

Darla then ran out before falling flat on her face.

Jessica covered her mouth. "You might wanna stretch your legs first."

"Thanks for the memo." Darla muffled.

Jessica then helped Darla up and dusted her clean and looked surprised at the elder counselor. "No way... Is that Marva?!"

Darla merely shrugged.

"That can't be her..." Jessica rubbed her eyes before doing a double take. "Marva was a counselor here when I was your age."

"Either she's still a counselor or she's retired." Darla said.

Jessica looked over.

The grey-haired woman greeted the incoming campers before looking back to her. "Jessica Fudo?!"

"It is you!" Jessica replied.

"Jessica Fudo, well I'll be." Marva smiled.

"Marvus, long time no see." Jessica smiled to her former counselor.

"It sure has been a while, hasn't it?" Marva smiled back.

"I'll say..." Jessica agreed.

"So, what brings you here?" Marvus asked her.

"I'm dropping off my little sister," Jessica smiled as she introduced the young blonde. "This is Darla."

"Hello, ma'am." Darla gave a polite smile and greeting before looking around and looking for her best friend in the whole wide world: Amber Smith.

"Are you looking for someone, dear?" Marva asked.

Darla looked forward. "Um... Well..."

"She's probably looking for her best friend," Jessica told Marvus. "They've been inseparable since second grade."

"Aw!" Marva smiled.

Jessica smiled back. "So, what're you up to?"

"I'm the camp director now until I decide to retire, my daughter Marvus Jr will be helping me." Marva told her.

Jessica looked surprised and curious of this Marva Jr.

* * *

Darla seemed to wander from her sister and the older woman as she looked around, passing the swarm of girls and one boy who seemed to be there by mistake, thinking this was a boy's camp. She soon saw a girl over at a pile of luggage having to have finally found her bag until more girls started to pile up their duffel bags on top. "Want some help?" she offered.

"I think I got it." the girl replied as she tried to get her bag.

"You girls new?" Another girl asked.

"Yeah..." the girls replied.

"How can you tell?" the other girl asked as she struggled with her bag by pulling it by the strap.

"You didn't know to grab your duffel before the apes tossed it into the heap," the girl replied, offering to give some help. "I would say you need some serious help."

"We sure could use some help." Darla said as she agreed herself into helping the other girl with getting her bag out.

"Thanks, it's the big yellow one." the girl said.

The other girl then nodded and helped get the bag out from the pile. A girl in a Tie-Dyed shirt found her bag and lifted it over her shoulder before walking off from the group.

"Whoa!" Darla smiled.

"Now that's my kind of woman." the redheaded girl next to Darla said about the Tie-Dyed girl.

"Yo, Tie-Dye, girl!" Darla called out. "Could you give us a hand, please?"

The girl then walked over.

The redheaded girl looked to the bags. "Oh! You're Darla Fudo, you're that girl I've been exchanging letters with last year in school."

"Then you must be Hallie Parker." Darla then said.

"That's me." Hallie smiled.

The two smiled to each other before Darla sighed.

"I wish my brother Atticus were here..." Darla said. "He could do this in a snap."

The Tie-Dye girl soon pulled out Hallie's bag out of the pile.

"Wow, you must be strong..." Darla said to the Tie-Dye girl.

"Hey, you live in California?" the first girl with glasses asked as she read Hallie's bag. "Do you, like, live in Hollywood?"

"Do you live next door to a movie star?" the Tie-Dye girl added in.

"What are you two, Lucy and Ethel?" Hallie laughed. "I've never even been to Hollywood. I live in Napa, that's in Northern California, and I live next door to a vineyard."

"Cool." Darla smiled.

"A whatyard?" the Tie-Dye girl asked.

"A vineyard," Hallie explained. "It's where you grow grapes to make wine. That's what we do. Me and my dad, we own a vineyard."

 ** _'Parker, Hallie!'_** Marva Jr called to announce the redheaded girl's cabin. **_'Arapaho!'_**

 _'This camp might not be that bad.'_ Darla thought to herself.

Hallie then left with Darla and their new friends, Zoe and Nicole as she then asked them if they knew how to play Poker. Jessica went to help Darla get ready into her cabin as she was one of the few adults from home still there to help out before she would have to drive back home all alone.

* * *

A limo was then pulling up into the camp gates as Amber came off of one school bus and looked around. "Darla?" she looked for her best friend in the whole wide world, but couldn't find her yet. She soon saw who was coming out of the limo. Amber then turned as the limo stopped. "Wow, way cool limo!"

A sharply dressed man came out from the driver's seat and let a redheaded girl with her hair down with a headband in ecru white clothing as she stepped out and smiled at the sights of the summer camp.

"Hi!" Amber extended her right hand. "I'm Amber Smith."

"Oh, you're Anita's niece." the girl replied with an English accent.

"That's me." Amber smiled.

"It's so wonderful to meet you." the English girl smiled.

"Annie, right?" Amber smiled back.

"That's correct." Annie smiled.

The man smiled down to them.

"Oh, hello." Amber greeted.

"I'm Martin, Miss James's butler and caretaker when her mother is away or her grandfather is busy." the man smiled.

"Hello, Martin..." Amber shook his head. "I'm Amber Smith, my Aunt Anita Dearly also works in the fashion industry, well, of course she did before she moved to a farm with my Uncle Roger and their dogs."

"Doesn't she still work as a fashion designer?" Annie asked.

"Yeah, but she can't go into work personally since she lives on a farm now." Amber explained.

"Oh, well that is a shame..." Annie replied. "I bet she's a very lovely woman."

"You have no idea..." Amber sighed about her favorite aunt.

"Anyway, shall we get to your checklist, Annie?" Martin asked.

"Of course, Martin," Annie nodded, then looked to Amber. "Oh, would you excuse us?"

"Go right ahead, my dad and I do the same thing when I'm with him for back to school." Amber giggled.

Annie smiled as that was something they also had in common. Martin took out the list and went over it with Annie. Annie looked up to Martin so they could go over the list before he would go to leave her here for the next eight weeks. And after he went over the list with Annie he brought a deck of poker cards. Annie checked everything that he said and smiled to the deck of cards.

"A spankin' new deck of cards," Martin smiled as he showed the deck to Annie. "Maybe you'll find someone on this continent who can actually whip your tush at poker."

Amber hid a giggle.

"I doubt it, but thanks," Annie smiled. "Thanks for bringing me here, Martin."

The two of them soon hugged. Martin seemed weepy from the hug. Annie gently held him and then let go once they finished.

"Now remember, if you change your mind and want me to pick you up at the end of camp, I'm only a phone-call away." Martin reminded Annie.

"Thanks, but I'll be fine," Annie promised with a smile. "Really. See you in eight weeks, Marty, o'pal."

"Miss you already, my Queen of Heart." Martin smiled back.

Amber was happy to know that Annie was being brave. Annie and Martin then shared a secret handshake and dance together. Amber looked curious.

"It's just something only we do." Annie explained to Amber.

"Oh, okay." Amber then smiled in understanding.

After Martin left, Annie and Amber both left for the cafeteria.

 ** _"Annie James?"_** Marva Jr called out.

"Over here." Annie smiled.

Amber then walked with Annie so they would find out where their cabins would be, she hoped that they could maybe have the same cabin and maybe even with Darla if she could ever find her best friend in this swarm of girls. And where luckily she was given the same cabin as Annie.

 _'I'm so excited to spend the summer with my new friend.'_ Amber and Darla thought to themselves, referring to Annie and Hallie. Unknown to them, the two best friends would soon be in the middle of a war when Annie and Hallie would meet.


	2. Chapter 2

The girls were now in the Mess Hall to have their first dinner away from home.

"I hope Jessica made it back home okay." Darla said to herself.

"That's your sister's name, right?" Hallie asked.

"Yeah," Darla nodded. "She's amazing."

"I wish I had a sister." Hallie sighed.

Darla frowned, feeling sad for Hallie, she had that pain herself until she was seven and then adopted by the Fudo family. The girls then went down the line and Marva Sr came between Amber and Annie so she could get some strawberries.

"Mm, strawberries." Amber smiled.

"Oh, none for me, please," Annie warned her new friend. "I'm horribly allergic."

Amber felt bad for Annie, so she decided to only have one in her bowl so she wouldn't make her new friend feel sick.

"So, Hallie, you want strawberries?" Darla asked her new friend.

"No thank you, Darla; I'm allergic." Hallie said.

Darla then took note of that. "Okay, Hallie."

* * *

 ** _After dinner..._**

Darla sighed as she felt lost and alone without Amber as she sat under a tree and wrote in her journal that Atticus gave her as a going away gift.

"Everything okay, Darla?" Maisy asked.

Darla smiled to her kitten and pet her. "I guess I just feel a little homesick."

"Already?" Maisy frowned. "But you just got here."

"Yeah, besides, I can smell Amber's scent." Patch smiled.

"You do?" Darla's eyes lit up.

Patch smiled and nodded.

"Where is she?" Darla sounded anxious to see her best friend right now.

Patch began to follow the scent, causing Darla and Maisy to follow him. Many of the girls went about their activities and didn't even seem to notice the puppy and kitten wandering around the campsite. Patch soon started to run as he got excited as they got closer to where Amber was.

* * *

"So, you know how to play Poker?" Annie asked Amber.

"Yeah, but I haven't played with anyone yet," Amber replied. Amber soon saw a familiar Dalmatian puppy. "Patch?" she then asked.

"What?" Hallie asked.

Amber knelt down on the ground and held out her arms as Patch rushed up to her with a smile. And where he soon jumped and tackled Amber with dog kisses. Amber laughed as the dog held her down.

"Hi, boy!" Hallie beamed.

Patch looked over and smiled as he could tell that this girl was a dog lover. Patch soon went up to her. Hallie smiled and played with Patch.

Amber laughed until she then gasped. "Wait, Patch, what're you doing here?! Pets aren't allowed in summer camp!"

"Darla was able to get me and Maisy allowed into camp." Patch smiled.

"Hmm..." Amber firmly hummed.

Hallie then went off as she saw something which interested her. "I'll see ya later, Amber!"

"Okay, see ya!" Amber called back.

Darla then rushed over to her best friend and the two shared a big hug with each other. Darla soon saw Halle going off somewhere. There was a fencing activity going on.

"So sad we can't share cabins..." Amber frowned.

"Yeah," Darla frowned. "How's about we watch them fence?"

"Sure, at least we'll be doing something together." Amber smiled.

Darla smiled back and they went with a bunch of the other girls who were watching the fencing tournament. And where Hallie seemed to be on a winning streak.

* * *

"The winner and still undefeated champ, Hallie Parker!" Marva Jr announced as she raised Hallie's arm. "Do we have any challengers?"

"Sure, I'll take a whack at it." Annie's voice said as she put the mask on to challenge Hallie in the game.

"You know, Darla, Annie looks just like your friend Hallie; only she doesn't have earrings and her hair is longer." Amber whispered.

"Really?" Darla replied. "I was just going to say that Hallie looks just like your friend Annie, but she doesn't have an accent."

The two best friends then looked to each other.

"You don't think they could be long-lost sisters or something, do you?" Amber asked.

"Oh, Amber, that's only in soap operas..." Darla said, but she did think about it. "...I think."

They soon decided to watch the match and leave their theory till later. A lot of the girls screamed and ran out of the way as Hallie and Annie were really getting into the match. And where it went on for a while until finally a new winner was chosen as Annie. This of course disappointed Hallie greatly.

"Okay, that was quite a show," Marva Jr chuckled sheepishly. "Alright, I think we got us a new camp champ from London, England, Miss Annie James!"

"Yay! Annie!" Amber smiled.

"Better luck next time, Hallie!" Darla called out.

The girls removed their masks and had their backs to each other.

"Come on, girls, let's shake hands." Marva Jr told them.

The girls groaned, rolling their eyes, and turned to face each other and gasped once they saw they looked exactly alike in their facial features.

"Whoa!" Amber and Darla gasped.

This was super freaky for everyone who realized that the two looked exactly alike. The two then shook each other's hands and gasped as they felt a spark deep within them both somehow.

"Whoa." Patch smiled.

"Is this good?" Maisy asked.

"I'm not sure." Patch said.

The lunch bell then began to ring.

"Ooh, lunch!" Darla called and ran off, distracted by the call of food.


	3. Chapter 3

Later on that night, the girls seemed to gather around for a game of poker. Annie had her grandfather's deck of cards and she was winning every game so far.

"Way to go, Annie!" Amber smiled to her new friend.

The older girls groaned as they walked away and Annie had a 'full house' in the game.

"Anyone else?" Amber asked.

"You've already tooken everybody." a younger girl told Annie.

"I'd like to take a whack at it." Hallie's voice said.

Everyone looked to see Hallie coming in with sunglasses and a sock full of money with Zoe, Nicole, and Darla on her sides.

"Ooh, this should be interesting." Amber smiled.

Hallie went to sit down and challenge Annie to a game of poker.

"This girl's b-b-b-bad to the bone." Darla smirked to Annie and her friends, even to Amber, of course not in a mean way to her since they were best friends back home after all.

"Is that right?" Amber folded her arms, smirking the same way back to Darla.

"How about we make this interesting?" Hallie smirked.

Annie looked up curiously as they were placing their bets with money, nail polish, and more.

"Tell ya what I'm gonna do," Hallie replied. "I'll make you a little deal. Loser jumps into the lake with their new friend after the game."

"Excellent." Annie smirked to that.

"Butt naked." Darla then added in with a smirk.

"Even more excellent." Annie approved, but Amber looked a little nervous.

"I-I don't know." Amber frowned.

"No worries, Amber, I've got this," Annie smirked and lay out her cards which were an Ace, a two, a three, a four, and a five, all of the suits were diamonds. "Diamond High, straight!"

"Good, James..." Hallie replied before showing her cards with a smirk. "But... Not just good enough."

Annie frowned in surprise and disappointment as she was a champion in poker back home.

"In your honor, a Royal Flush." Hallie smirked as she showed her cards which were all spades and a King, two Queens, a Jack, and an Ace.

"Oh, crud." Amber groaned.

"Sorry, Amber..." Darla whispered to her best friend.

* * *

The other girls giggled as Amber and Annie were forced to go outside nude on the docks to go for a swim in the lake with no clothes on since they had lost the bet.

"Next time, let's try to bet something else." Amber said.

"Don't have to tell me twice." Annie agreed.

The other girls watched as Amber and Annie then dove into the lake water.

"Grab their clothes." Hallie smirked to her friends.

"What? Why?" Darla asked.

"Come on, just do it!" Hallie laughed as Zoe and Nicole already grabbed the clothes.

"No way." Darla said.

"Suit yourself." Hallie shrugged and ran with Zoe and Nicole with Annie and Amber's clothes.

"Give me those!" Darla grabbed Amber's clothes. "I know they lost the bet, but Amber is my best friend!"

"Oh..." Hallie frowned. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

Darla firmly pouted as she took Amber's clothes. Hallie felt a little guilty, but she ran with Zoe and Nicole with Annie's clothes. Annie and Amber popped their heads out of the shivering evening water and saw that some clothes were missing.

* * *

"Sorry girls, I could only get your clothes back, Amber." Darla said as she showed her best friend's clothes while also giving them both towels.

"Oh, thank you..." Annie accepted before glaring to the running other three girls. "At least someone else has class around here!"

"What should we do?" Darla asked.

"I think revenge is in order." Annie decided.

"Now, now, let's not do anything we might regret..." Amber said as she wore the towel over her head before putting her clothes back on.

"Amber, I'm afraid that revenge must be her punishment." Annie said.

"Sorry about this..." Amber said to Darla.

"Oh, well, how bad could it be?" Darla shrugged as she then went to catch up with Hallie, Zoe, and Nicole.

Unfortunately, it was bad the next day.


	4. Chapter 4

**_The next day..._**

"Phew!" Darla wiped her forehead. "I think I need a nap before the next activity, I don't know about you, girls."

"Same here." Hallie said.

"The does not seem like a possibility." Nicole said.

"Why not?" Hallie asked.

"That's why not." Nicole pointed to their cabin.

"Uh-oh, looks like Annie got her revenge." Darla said.

They all looked to see that their beds were on the roof of their cabin.

Hallie couldn't believe it. "No way."

"Well, looks like you two are even then." Darla smiled nervously.

"Not even close." Hallie narrowed her eyes.

"Are you serious?" Darla asked.

Hallie nodded firmly.

"This is going to end badly..." Darla bit her lip.

Hallie, Zoe, and Nicole went to Annie and Amber and their friends' cabin later that night. The girls inside the cabin were fast asleep as Hallie and the others plotted even more revenge. And where they were going to get them all, except for Amber of course, since she was Darla's best friend. The girls set up traps all around the room and pranks.

They then giggled as they came back to their cabins for the night, but would come in the morning after the horn to check to see how their little practical joke went. Unknown to them, there would be a surprise inspection. Annie came out of her bed and yelled out as the floor was incredibly sticky. The other girls screamed as they were all violated with their hair, whipped cream, and their hair in spikes.

* * *

There were strings all around which set off a bunch of water balloons. The only one that didn't get pranked was Amber. She did wake up from the splashes from the water balloons and the screams from her bunk-mates. She then gasped as she looked all around and saw what had become of the cabin.

"She didn't get me." Annie smirked as she avoided getting soaked by the water balloons.

"I wouldn't say that just yet." Amber said as she saw a big water balloon was now rolling down towards Annie.

Annie looked up and screamed as the large water balloon came down and splattered all over her. Amber winced and clenched her teeth.

"That girl, without a doubt, is the lowest, most awful creature that ever walked the planet!" Annie snapped.

"Thank you, thank you very much." Hallie smirked, doing an Elvis Presley impression.

"Can this get any worse?" Amber and Darla sighed.

"Morning, girls." Marva Sr greeted as she walked with her daughter.

"Morning, Marvas," Hallie, Zoe, and Nicole replied angelically before doing a double take. " **MARVAS?!** "

"Surprise inspection!" Marva Sr announced to the girls who were just waking up. "AttenSHUN!

"Uh-oh..." Amber said.

"No, no, Marva do not go in there..." Hallie said as she ran to the screen door to block the counselors from going into the cabin. "One of the girls got sick last night and it's a big, big mess! Save yourself the aggravation. It's really disgusting."

"Oh, well, if someone's sick, dear, then I must go in..." Marva Sr reached for the door handle.

Hallie leaned against the door to close it as there was a bucket of tar above the door with a fan and feathers waiting inside. Darla soon got herself included so then the tar wouldn't fall on Marva Sr.

"Move aside, dears." Marva Sr said gently to them.

"No, really, we insist, we can't let you guys go in there..." Darla smiled nervously. "She's highly contagious... The girl who's sick, I mean. You might have to quarantine the whole cabin."

"Actually, we're all quite fine in here," Annie smiled slyly. "Unless Hallie Parker knows something we don't know."

"No, trust me, ma'am; you don't want to come in here." Amber said.

Annie glanced at Amber who glanced back angrily. "Really, come inside and see for yourself, Marvas." she then insisted the adults come in.

"Stand aside, please." Marva Sr told Hallie and Darla before grabbing the handle and opening the door which made the bucket dunk tar on her and her daughter.

"Noooo!" Amber and Darla panicked.

"This can only end in disaster." Amber sighed,

The counselors slipped into the wall and one grabbed a doll which made the fan go off and made feathers fall onto the two. Amber and Darla began to try to not laugh as the two counselors started to now look like chickens.

"We told you it was a mess in here." Hallie replied nervously.

"She should know," Annie glared. "She did it!"

"You and you!" Marva Sr sputtered while pointing firmly to the two identical girls. "Pack your bags!"

"If they leave, then so do we." Darla and Amber said.

"Suit yourselves." Marva Jr said, not as strict as her mother.

* * *

After a while, the Marvas cleaned up and were hiking along a trail with the girls to take them to their new shelter to punish them.

"Amber, I am so sorry!" Darla said to her best friend. "I didn't want any part in this."

"It's okay, Darla." Amber said.

Marva Jr blew her whistle to make the girls stop marching.

"Okay, girls, the rest of you back to your activities." Marva Sr announced through her megaphone.

This made the other girls not in trouble cheer and run back to camp once they were free to go.

"You four, the isolation cabin." Marva Sr firmly told Darla, Amber, Annie, and Hallie.

Marva Jr then sharply pointed upward toward the cabin.

"Yes, ma'am." Darla and Amber said.

* * *

The four girls then went into the cabin and moved their stuff in. Darla and Amber sighed as they were being punished too, but it was probably for the best.

"Hopefully we can make them become friends." Darla said to Amber as Hallie and Annie went to brush their teeth as it was getting dark.

"Hopefully." Amber said.

Maisy nuzzled up against Darla. Darla hugged her kitten and gently pet her as she looked out the window.

"I know Hallie's bad, but I like her," Patch said. "I can tell she's a dog person."

"If only there was something that the both of them like that could bring them closer together." Amber said.

"I have a sinking feel about them..." Darla replied.

That night was not an easy night, the two kept fighting over the light. Annie was writing in her diary and Hallie was trying to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day, it was very stormy and that meant that everybody had to go indoors until the storm would stop. Patch shivered at the storm, trying to keep calm as he didn't like storms that much. Amber started to soothe him as she pet him. Patch soon settled down with her comfort.

"Shh... Shh..." Amber soothed like a mother comforting her distressed child.

One of the windows soon slid open, letting in the gust of wind.

Maisy shivered. "Brr!"

Hallie tried to close the window as it blew down a few of her posters. Patch was going to help her, but Annie actually stood up to help Hallie close the window. And with the two of them working together, they got to get the window shut. Darla and Amber smiled to this as the two actually worked together for a change.

"Thanks." Hallie smiled to Annie.

"You're welcome." Annie smiled back.

Patch began to check on the posters.

"Oh, man..." Hallie frowned as she collected her posters that fell to the floor.

Annie decided to help and then picked up the stuffed animal next to the rain water bucket. "Here's your-"

"Cubby." Hallie smiled.

"How long have you had Cubby?" Darla asked.

"For as long as I can remember..." Hallie said as she put her stuffed animal back onto her bed.

Patch came up to Hallie with a poster of Leonard DiCaprio in his mouth and smiled to her.

"Thanks, boy." Hallie accepted it with a smile.

"Who's that?" Annie asked, referring to the man in the poster.

"You've never heard of Leonardo DiCaprio?" Hallie replied in surprise. "How far away is London anyway?"

"Well, from here, it's 3,000 miles," Annie replied. "But sometimes it seems much further... How far away is your home?"

"Oh, California's all the way at the end of the country," Hallie said. "Actually... Here's a picture of my house..." she then held out a photograph to show to the others.

"It's beautiful." Amber smiled.

"Wow, it really is..." Annie agreed in amazement.

"Yeah, they built it when I was little," Hallie nodded. "We've got this incredible porch that looks over the entire vineyard, and, and-"

"Is this your dad?" Darla pointed to the man in the picture.

"Oh, yeah," Hallie nodded. "He didn't know I was taking a picture or he would've turned around. He's kinda like my best friend. We do everything together."

"Aw!" Darla and Amber smiled.

Annie shook a chill down her spine.

"Something wrong, Annie?" Amber asked.

"Uh, it's chilly in here..." Annie replied as she went to sit on her bed.

"How's about we have something to eat?" Darla said.

"Mom sent some of her cookies." Amber smiled to her best friend.

"All right!" Darla cheered so they could have the cookies. "Want some, Hallie?"

"No thanks, I'm good." Hallie said as she took out a pack of Oreo's with a jar of peanut butter.

"Oreo's with peanut butter." Darla smiled.

"I do that at home..." Annie was surprised to see someone else shared her strange eating habit.

"Really? So do I." Hallie said.

"You're kidding," Annie replied. "Most people find that totally disgusting."

"I know, I don't get it." Hallie agreed as she shared her snack with Annie.

"Well, that's something you both have in common." Darla smiled.

"As friends should." Amber agreed.

"How old are you, Hallie?" Annie asked.

"I'll be twelve on October 11th." Hallie replied.

"Your birthday's on October 11th?!" Annie asked in shock.

"Yeah." Hallie nodded.

"So's mine." Annie said.

This made Hallie choke in surprise. "Erm... So, Annie, what's your dad like?" she then asked. "I mean, is he the kind of father you can talk to or is he one of those workaholic types that says, 'I'll talk to you later, honey', but never really does? I hate that."

"I don't have a father actually," Annie replied. "I mean, I had one, once, I suppose, but my parents divorced years ago. My mother never even mentions him. It's like he evaporated into thin air or something."

"It's scary nobody stays together anymore." Hallie shook her head.

"Yeah." Maisy said.

"Tell me about it..." Annie agreed.

"Hey, it stopped raining," Hallie noticed. "You guys wanna get popsicles or something?"

"Sounds good to me." Darla smiled.

Annie slowly followed out and held her locket, looking down to them.

"What's the matter?" Amber asked as she seemed to stay behind.

"Hallie, what's your mother like?" Annie asked as she was getting an idea.

"I never met her," Hallie replied. "She and my dad split up when I was a baby, maybe before, I'm not sure, he doesn't like to talk about her, but I know she was really, really beautiful."

"How do you know?" Darla asked.

"Well, 'cuz my dad had this old picture of her hidden in a sock drawer," Hallie explained. "And he caught me looking at it, like, all the time, so he gave it to me to keep. Look, I'm really thirsty. Are you guys sure you don't wanna go to the Mess Hall and get a lemonade or something?"

"Will you stop thinking about your stomach at a time like this?!" Annie replied, shaking her head with an amused smile.

"At a time like what?" Hallie asked.

"Hallie, don't you get it? You both like the same food. You only have a father and she only has a mother you only have one picture of your mom and she only has one picture of her dad." Darla and Amber said.

"What are you, a detective?" Hallie asked.

"I get it from my brother." Darla smirked, of course mentioning Atticus.

"Of course, she must have a whole picture of her mother because my picture of my father is just this half picture with it torn right down the middle." Annie said.

This gave Hallie an idea as she then went through her trunk.

"There's only one way to find out." Amber told Annie.

"This is the picture of my mom..." Hallie held her picture close without showing it at first. "And it's ripped too..."

"Right down the middle?" Annie asked.

"Right down the middle..." Hallie nodded.

Annie soon went to where the picture of her dad was. "This is so freaky..." she said to Hallie. "Okay, on the count of three, we'll show them to each other, okay?"

"Okay..." Hallie nodded.

"One... Two... Three." Darla and Amber counted.

Hallie and Amber then held out their photos to show that they were the same and had been cut in half to show their missing parents and the photographs instantly became one.

"Whoa!" Darla, Maisy, Patch, and Amber smiled.

"That's my dad." Hallie gasped.

"That's my mum!" Allie smiled softly.

The two looked at the picture together as the lunch bell rang.

"That sounds like the lunch bell." Darla said.

"I'm not so hungry anymore." Hallie replied.

Patch and Maisy gasped in surprise.

"So, if your mom is my mom, and my dad is your dad, and we're both born on October 11th, then you and I are, like... Like sisters." Hallie said with a smile.

"Sisters?" Annie replied. "Hallie, we're like twins!"

"Yep." Darla and Amber smiled.

Hallie and Annie shared a hug together, both of them so overcome with emotion.

"I just don't know what to say..." Hallie replied as she gripped her locket.

"What's that your holding?" Annie asked.

"My locket," Hallie said as she showed it. "I got it when I was born. It has an 'H' on it."

"I've got mine when I was born too, except mine has an 'A' on it." Annie showed her locket out.

"Wow." Darla and Amber said.

"This is the craziest day of my life." Amber said.

"You said it..." Hallie agreed as she suddenly got goosebumps. "I have a sister... A twin... There's two of me... Us... This is like..."

"Mind boggling." Annie agreed.

"I wonder why your parents split up?" Darla thought out loud.

"Yeah." Maisy said.

Later that night, Hallie and Annie became closer and they asked each other what their parents were like. This only made the two want to meet their missing parents for themselves somehow.

"Too bad you guys can't trade places..." Amber said after the bonding.

This suddenly gave Hallie an idea.

"Amber, you just gave me a brilliant beyond brilliant idea," Hallie said, sitting up in her bed. "I'm serious, you are a total genius!"

Amber smiled shyly in response to that.

"Annie, you wanna know what Dad is like, right?" Hallie prompted.

"Right." Annie replied.

"And I'm dying to know Mom," Hallie continued. "So, like Amber said, we should switch places. When camp's over, I'll go back to London as you and you go back to California as me."

"What?!" Annie gawked at her.

"It's brilliant." Darla smiled.

"We can pull it off," Hallie nodded to her. "We're twins, aren't we?"

"Hallie, we're totally, completely, 100% different." Annie shook her head in disbelief.

"So? You can teach her how to be you and she can teach you how to be her." Darla said.

"Look, I can do you already," Hallie said before holding her hair back and changing her accent. "Yes, you want to know the difference between us? I have class and you don't."

Annie smirked, but said nothing.

"That was a good imitation of her." Patch said.

"Please, Annie, please," Amber begged. "You should let your sister meet her mom."

"The truth is, you know, if we switch, sooner or later, they'll have to unswitch us." Annie said with a smile with the possibility of their parents seeing each other for the first time in eleven years.

"And when they do, they'll have to meet each other again face-to-face." Hallie smiled.

"After all these years." Annie nodded.

"Thank you!" Hallie lay down then with Annie. "I told you Amber was brilliant."

Amber giggled before she lay down with Darla to get some sleep.

"By the way, how is it that your pets are able to talk?" Hallie asked Darla.

"Oh! Umm... You wouldn't happen to have heard of Puppy Power, have you?" Darla replied.

"Yes, I have." Hallie nodded.

"Well, there you go." Darla replied.

"And you cat?" Hallie then asked.

Darla shrugged. "Kitten Power?"

"Puppy Power kind of works for both cats and dogs." Maisy said.

"Wow..." Hallie smiled.

"Patch really likes you." Darla said to Hallie.

"I love dogs," Hallie replied. "I have a dog back home named Sammy."

"Boy or girl?" Patch asked.

"A boy, he's a golden retriever." Hallie smiled.

"Shouldn't we be concerned with Sammy since dogs have an excellent judge of a person?" Maisy asked.

"Oh, he won't notice." Hallie reassured.

"Well..." Patch and Maisy looked to each other nervously, Annie and Hallie may have been twins, but Sammy might be able to tell the difference in his own way.

"Well, it's a good thing that I'll be going with." Darla said.

"What?" Annie asked.

"We decided on the last day, we should spend a week together since we became friends through a letter program at school." Darla explained.

"And I was gonna go with Annie to London with Aunt Anita and Uncle Roger since my aunt and Annie's mother are old friends." Amber then said.

"Looks like this'll work out then," Annie nodded. "We'll work out getting to know each other by breakfast tomorrow."

"Yeah." Amber said.

The others then went straight to sleep as they were excited for this plan to play out. And where the plan would work.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day, Annie and Hallie told each other about their lives back home in order for this plan to be successful. And where they soon had to let Annie get a hair cut. Annie was of course very nervous about this. Hallie was also nervous as she approached Annie with the scissors and was about to cut until...

"Don't shut _your_ eyes!" Annie told Hallie.

"She's right, Hallie." Amber said.

"Oh, right, okay, sorry, I'm a little nervous." Hallie said.

"You're nervous?!" Annie whined. "An eleven-year-old is cutting my hair!"

"Hey, you sounded just like me." Hallie smiled.

"Yeah." Darla smiled.

"Well I'm supposed to, aren't I?" Annie smirked before closing her eyes. "Go on... Just do it."

Hallie then took a deep breath and started to cut Annie's hair to look just like hers.

After a while, Annie finally looked like Hallie, except for one more thing.

"Perfect!" Darla smiled.

"Uh, not quite..." Amber spoke up. "Hallie, aren't your ears pierced?"

"Oh, my God..." Hallie just realized that Annie didn't have pierced ears.

"What?" Annie asked.

"Well, I can't go to camp with pierced ears and come back with them not." Hallie told Annie.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, absolutely not, I refuse." Annie said.

"Did you bring your Moon Staff?" Maisy asked Darla.

"Just in case of emergencies," Darla knew where this was going. "Do you think it'll work?"

"Yes." Maisy nodded.

Darla went to her bag and took out her Moon Staff as Hallie was getting a lemon and a needle and walked over to Annie.

"What is that?" Annie asked.

"Let me handle this, this should be quick and painless." Darla said as she gripped her Moon Staff.

"I hope so." Annie pleaded.

"Moon Power!" Darla proclaimed as she held out her staff. "Pierce Annie's ears!"

Annie soon closed her eyes and expected pain in her ears. "Oh, just get it over with!" she cried out. "This is absolutely dreadful, I shouldn't have agreed to this! Just tell me when it's over."

"Annie, it's over." Maisy told her.

Annie then opened her eyes and saw her ears were now pierced and she didn't even feel a thing. "That's it?"

"Yep, that's it." Darla smiled.

Annie smiled.

"So much for my plan." Hallie pouted as she threw away the lemon and needle.

"Now you two look exactly alike." Amber said.

Hallie and Annie smiled as they hoped that this would work.

* * *

Before they knew it, it was almost time to go home and many rides were coming to pick the girls up. Darla was on the phone with her family as she was going to be with Hallie until back to school, or in this case, with Annie. And where they already knew that she was going to be with Hallie until she would be back to school.

"It was a lot of fun otherwise," Darla said as she continued to talk with the family back home. "But enough about me, how was your summer?"

 ** _'We were mostly in Equestria,"_ ** Atticus said on the other line while he was reading one of Cherry's newest stories to proofread for any errors before she would send it out to a publishing company. **_"The others say hi and hope you had a good summer. Also, Uncle Triton says hi and Urchin really missed you."_**

"I really miss him too." Darla smiled.

 ** _"He said if anyone bullied you, he could beat them up for ya."_ ** Atticus then said with a laugh.

Darla laughed back. "I'll keep that in mind."

 ** _"Well, have a nice time with Hallie."_** Atticus said.

"Okay, send my love to the others, bye, Atticus." Darla nodded and then hung up.

* * *

Atticus hung up himself as he continued to read. "What a nice young woman she's becoming."

* * *

"So I'll be coming with you while Patch goes with Amber." Maisy said.

"That's right," Darla nodded. "You ready to go?"

"Of course I am." Maisy nodded back.

"Come on then." Darla opened her bag.

Maisy then climbed in and fit snug and nicely. Darla smiled as she then went to find Hallie.

* * *

"Oh, yes, Aunt Anita, it's fine that you brought Pongo and Perdita with you and Uncle Roger." Amber said on the phone, purposely aloud so Patch would overhear that and he would be able to see his parents during this visit to London.

Patch soon got excited as he would see his parents again.

Amber smiled to his excitement. "Anyway, Aunt Anita, I better get packing." she then said.

 ** _"Alright, dear, we look forward to seeing you, we'll meet you at the James residence."_ ** Anita told her niece.

"Yes, Aunt Anita, I'll see you soon." Amber nodded. She soon hung up and went to her bag.

"Are Mom and Dad really gonna be there?" Patch asked excitedly.

"Yeah," Amber smiled to him. "You know your parents are best friends with my aunt and uncle."

"Wahoo!" Patch smiled.

Amber hugged the puppy and went with Darla to Hallie and Annie to make the switch. And where they did so by switching clothes. This was it. The big moment of truth. Hallie and Annie reminded each other that they were going to ask why their parents split up and separated.

* * *

"This is so exciting." Darla smiled.

"Good luck." Amber said as she stood beside Hallie.

"Same to you." Darla replied as she stood beside Annie.

"This plan is fool proof." Patch whispered.

"Glad I thought of it." Maisy smirked.

"No, it was my idea." Patch glared.

"Well it was my idea to take your idea." Maisy giggled.

"Are you serious?!" Patch glared.

Maisy laughed.

"Get over here, Cat!" Patch poked his head out with a bark.

"No way." Maisy smirked.

"Annie James! Amber Smith! Your car is here!" Marva Jr announced.

"That's us." Amber told Hallie.

"Yep." Hallie nodded.

Hallie and Annie shared one last hug and the group split up.

"See ya soon, Darla!" Amber called to her best friend.

"See ya, Amber!" Darla called back to her best friend.

Hallie and Amber were then in a limo and were being taken to an airport to meet Martin in London. Annie and Darla both had their fingers crossed, hoping this would work.

"Good luck..." Annie whispered.

* * *

Amber and Hallie were on the plane going straight to London as. Hallie looked out the window and was amazed to see the sights of the foreign country she was going to be staying at.

"Please like me, please." Hallie whispered to herself, hoping her mother would like her.

Amber gently squeezed Hallie's hand in comfort as they were going to meet her mother. Once they arrived at the airport, they left the plane to see if Martin was there. The girls stood close to each other and looked around.


	7. Chapter 7

"Which one is he?" Hallie whispered to Amber.

"He's the butler, so look for a man in a suit who is friendly." Amber whispered back.

"Alright." Hallie whispered.

"Annie!" Martin smiled as he came with a bouquet of flowers.

"'Mawtin'!" Hallie exclaimed with a smile back.

"Perfect." Amber whispered.

Hallie and Martin ran up to each other.

'I hope she memorized the handshake.' Amber thought to herself.

Martin and Hallie then did the handshake which was for him and Annie.

"Whew." Amber sighed quietly in secret relief.

Patch poked his head out and smiled as Hallie was able to do the handshake successfully.

"I can't wait to meet Annie's mother." Amber smiled to Martin.

"Ah, yes, she and your aunt are anxiously awaiting your arrival." Martin smiled back to Amber.

"I had a feeling she might." Amber smiled as Patch came out.

"Oh, hello little fella." Martin smiled to Patch.'

Patch smiled back and gave a quiet and gentle bark.

"He sure is friendly." Martin smiled.

"Indeed he is," Amber smiled back. "So, shall we go then?"

"Come along." Martin told the girls.

* * *

They soon went to the limo.

"Ooh, how high class." Patch whispered.

They soon got in the limo ready to get to Annie's house. Amber and Hallie looked out the windows as they saw the wonderful sights of London, England.

"Wow." Amber smiled.

"This is amazing." Hallie couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"It sure has been a while since I've been to London." Patch smiled.

"I know you're ready to see the best dog parents in the world." Amber smiled back.

"I sure am." Patch smiled.

Amber hugged him. Hallie was so excited just to see these sights up close.

They soon saw the house they were going to stay in. The driver opened the door and let Annie and Amber out. "Home again." he smiled sweetly to Hallie.

"Thank you." Hallie smiled back and looked amazed at the sight of Annie's house.

"Wow." Amber and Patch smiled.

"This is it..." Hallie told Amber and Patch. "18 Cumberland Square." she then took a deep breath and went through the front gate to go into the house to meet her mother for the first time as Annie.

* * *

There were books and papers on the coffee table in the living room with a welcome banner for Annie. While Hallie and Amber explored, Patch sniffed the air and caught a familiar scent before following it.

"I recognize this scent anywhere." Patch smiled.

Hallie and Amber had met the grandfather of the house as Patch went off. Perdita and Pongo were lying by the fireplace with their front paws on top of each other like humans holding hands.

"Bomb's away!" Patch smirked before playfully pouncing in top of his parents.

"Looks like our son has arrived." Pongo laughed.

"'Ello, Patch." Perdita smiled.

"Hi, Mother... Hi, Dad..." Patch nuzzled up against his parents.

"Now, how did you get here?" Pongo smiled.

"Amber." Patch replied.

"Oh, such a lovely girl..." Perdita smiled to that. "But, how did you get with her?"

"Erm... I sorta snuck in when she and Darla went to Camp Walden." Patch smiled sheepishly.

"Such a sneaky pup." Pongo smirked.

Patch giggled to his parents.

"Oh, look at how much you've grown..." Perdita smiled.

"How's everybody else back on the farm?" Patch asked. "Are they having a wonderful time?"

"Yep and getting smaller." Pongo said.

"So I've heard..." Patch replied about some of his siblings who had been adopted.

"Lucky, Rolly, and Spot were really sad about Cadpig leaving." Perdita said.

"Oh, yeah, no doubt," Patch agreed. "I mean, they were the Four Musketeers after all."

"But they do get visits from her and Tripod once in a while." Pongo said.

"Well, that's good..." Patch smiled.

"There's also Paprika." Perdita said.

"Paprika?" Patch asked curiously.

"Your new niece." Pongo smiled.

"That awesome!" Patch smiled.

Pongo and Perdita smiled back.

"I'd love to meet her..." Patch replied.

"How about now?" a young female voice asked.

Patch looked over to see a slender dalmatian puppy with a purple bow around her neck with floppy black ears, a spot on her cheek like a beauty mark, and diamond blue eyes with a heart-shaped pink nose.

"Good day, Uncle Patch." the puppy smiled.

"Good day, Paprika." Patch smiled back.

Paprika walked like a show dog and came to his side.

"Proper young lady, are we?" Patch chuckled.

"She's been watching dog shows." Pongo said.

"So I see." Patch replied.

"I'm going to have a lot of grace when I grow up." Paprika smiled smugly.

"I can tell." Patch said.

Pongo and Perdita smiled.

"Um, where's Roger and Anita?" Patch asked about their 'pets'.

"Upstairs with Annie's mother, dear." Perdita replied.

"Great." Patch smiled.

* * *

Amber and Hallie came to meet Annie's grandfather.

"Hello?" Amber greeted.

"Hello, dear," Charles smiled. "You must be Amber."

"Yes, sir." Amber curtsied politely for the old man.

"And is that my granddaughter? That tall, gangly thing?" Charles asked playfully as he looked at Hallie.

"Yes, that's me." Hallie replied.

"Did you have a good time, sweet pea?" Charles asked as he hugged his granddaughter.

"Great..." Hallie replied before sniffing Charles.

"What are you doing?" Charles asked curiously.

"Just smelling..." Hallie replied. "I'm making a memory. Years from now, when I'm all grown up, I'll remember my grandfather and how he always smelled of peppermint and pipe tobacco."

"Wow, what a nose." Amber smiled.

"You can say that again, dear." Charles agreed with a chuckle.

"Annie? Amber?" Two female voices called out.

Hallie looked at the stairs with Amber. There was a blonde woman with Amber's aunt.

"Aunt Anita!" Amber ran up the stairs to hug her favorite aunt.

"Mother." Hallie smiled.

"Honey, welcome home." Elizabeth hugged her daughter while Anita and Amber watched.

"I can't believe it's you." Hallie's voice broke slightly.

"Sounds like Annie hasn't seen her mother in years." Pongo said curiously.

"I thought it was only eight weeks in human years." Perdita replied.

"Oh, she's just been away from her mom so long, it's like she hasn't seen her mother in years." Patch covered up.

Perdita started to sniff Hallie. Patch jumped in front of Hallie and smiled nervously.

"Perdy?" Anita looked concerned to her dog.

Perdita knew that Hallie wasn't Annie as she couldn't tell if she was a dog person. Patch stood in front of Hallie.

"This isn't Annie James, is it?" Perdita firmly asked her son.

"Oh, Mother, don't be ridiculous, that's absolutely-" Patch was about to lie until he found he couldn't lie to his own mother, then bowed his head and gave in. "No, ma'am."

"Then who is this girl? And why does she look like Annie, but have a different scent?" Perdita asked.

Patch sighed. "This is Hallie, Annie's twin sister."

"Annie has a twin sister?" Perdita asked in surprise.

"It's a long story, Mother." Patch sighed.

"Well then, you better tell us about it later." Pongo said.

"Yes, Dad, I will." Patch promised.

Patch, Perdita, and Pongo then watched as Hallie and Elizabeth continued to hug. Roger came to meet Amber as Elizabeth decided they should have some tea to talk about the summer camp experience.

"They seem to be getting along." Patch whispered.

"I've become a music teacher for the local school," Roger told Amber. "If you'd like, I could teach you."

"I'll have to see about it when I come over next summer, Uncle Roger." Amber smiled.

"That sounds perfect." Roger said.

Amber smiled back.

* * *

"So, how was camp?" Elizabeth asked. "Did you all make friends? Was the food okay?"

Martin came in and knocked on the wall which made them all look to him.

"Oh, Martin." Anita smiled to her friend's butler.

"I found a stowaway in your suitcase." Martin took out a familiar stuffed animal.

"Uh-oh." Patch whispered.

"Oh, my God, Cubby..." Hallie whispered.

"Cubby?" Elizabeth asked curiously.

"We better think of an excuse, quick." Patch whispered to Amber.

"Erm... It's mine," Amber spoke up as she walked over to Martin and took the stuffed animal. "I must've put him in Annie's bag by accident... I mean, I can't imagine spending the night away from home without him, let alone in another country."

"Uh, y-yes, she must have accidentally put him in my bag." Hallie smiled nervously.

"I'll take care of him, I'm so sorry about that, Annie." Amber said as she came with the stuffed animal.

"I don't believe I've seen you with that toy before, Amber." Anita commented.

"Indeed." Roger agreed.

"Oh, um, I guess I forgot to introduce you both to him." Amber smiled nervously.

"That will be all, Martin." Hallie said to the butler.

The telephone then rang and Elizabeth went to answer it.

"Excuse me, luvs." Elizabeth told Roger and Anita and answered her phone.

Hallie began to look around her mother's stuff. Amber then handed Cubby to Hallie, knowing that she must've really wanted him right now.

* * *

After a short while, Elizabeth looked over to Hallie. "Annie, would you hate very much running down to the studio with me?" she then asked while putting the phone down for a moment.

"No, I'd love it!" Hallie smiled in excitement.

"Do you mind having some company?" Amber smiled.

"I think that's a marvelous idea." Elizabeth approved.

Amber and Hallie then smiled to each other.

"This is working out better than we planned." Patch whispered.

Hallie, Amber, Elizabeth, and Anita then took their leave. Roger decided to walk the dogs. Patch began to whine as he wanted to go with the girls.

"What is it, Patch?" Roger asked.

Patch pointed to the girls with a small whine.

'"You wanna go with Amber and Annie?" Roger asked.

Patch nodded.

Roger then bent down and took the leash off his collar. "Very well."

Patch smiled as he then rushed off to the girls.

* * *

"Hey, look who decided to join us." Amber smiled once she looked back to see who was coming with them.

Patch jumped up with a pant.

Amber giggled and hugged the puppy. "Come on, right this way, boy."

"Looks like the little chap didn't want to miss a thing." Elizabeth smiled.

"That's Patch for ya, he's the most adventurous puppy of Perdy's." Anita smiled back to her friend.

Patch nodded in agreement.

"Come along then, Patch." Elizabeth invited.

Patch smiled as he would see how Elizabeth did her work. Hallie held Elizabeth's hand as they ran across the street to the shop.

"Ooh." Amber smiled.

"Wow!" Hallie beamed at a dress in the display window. "That's incredible!"

"Yeah!" Amber beamed.

"Thanks." Elizabeth smiled.

"You designed that?" Hallie asked.

"I had to do something while you were at camp," Elizabeth replied. "You don't think it's too...?"

"No, it's gorgeous, I love it!" Hallie insisted. "You know who would look very beautiful in that gown?"

"Who?" Elizabeth asked.

"You." Amber and Hallie smiled.

Patch nodded with a bark.

"Me?" Elizabeth replied. "You know, I think that time change has made you a little loopy. Come on, let's see what all the fuss is about."

"Yeah." Anita smiled.

Elizabeth and Anita walked in first.

* * *

A model was in a dress with gloves and Elizabeth went to go see the women who were fitting the model.

'Looks like they're getting this woman ready for a wedding.' Patch thought to himself.

"Don't you have any ideas for the veil?" Anita asked.

"We don't know what to do for it." the model frowned.

Patch soon looked at some hats and where one of them caught his eye not to chew on, but as in as a part for the wedding dress. Hallie smiled in admiration as she saw Elizabeth was basically in charge of this fashion world. Patch continued to try to get a white hat while trying to not use his magic.

Elizabeth then looked down and took the hat from his mouth. Patch then smiled as he looked up to them.

"Excellent choice, boy." Elizabeth smiled to Patch as she liked the white hat with the veil.

Patch smiled up at her as he was happy that he got to help. Elizabeth gave directions while Anita snapped photos.

"My mom is too cool." Hallie smiled.

"You can say that again." Amber smiled back in agreement.

The model had fun taking pictures and Amber, Hallie, and Patch began to join in on the photos. And where they seemed to have lot of fun.

* * *

"So, Ms. Parker, designing all these wedding gowns," Amber spoke up after the photo shoot. "Does it ever make you think about getting married again?"

"Or at least think about the 'F' word?" Hallie added in, using the accent.

"The F word?!" Elizabeth and Anita replied in slight shock.

"My father." Hallie replied, meaning that and not the bad one.

"Yeah." Amber nodded.

"Oh, that F word..." Elizabeth chuckled sheepishly. "Well, no, actually it doesn't because I didn't even wear a wedding gown when I married the 'F' word."

"Oh, Elizabeth, are you sure you wanna tell her this?" Anita asked.

"She's almost a teenager, she might as well learn now." Elizabeth replied.

"She's right, Aunt Anita." Amber smiled.

"Why didn't you marry him?" Hallie asked her mother about her father.

"Why the sudden curiosity about your dad, huh?" Elizabeth asked back.

"Can you blame her for being curious?" Amber asked.

"Oh, perhaps they're right, Elizabeth," Anita agreed. "Surely you should've seen this coming."

"At least tell me what he was like." Hallie pleaded.

"Okay..." Elizabeth gave in with a smile. "He was quite lovely to tell you the truth. When we met, he was... Actually entirely lovely. All right?"

"Alright, so did you meet in London?" Hallie asked.

"We met on the Q2." Elizbeth replied.

"What's that?" Amber asked.

"Queen Elizabeth II," Elizabeth explained. "It's an ocean liner that sails from London to New York. I wasn't too keen on flying and neither was Annie's father. We met our very first night on board the ship, actually. We were seated next to each other at dinner. He's an American, you know."

"No kidding." Hallie replied as if she didn't know.

"Yeah, we never knew." Amber said.

"So, was it love at first sight?" Hallie asked.

"I knew you were going to ask me those questions one day," Elizabeth giggled as she took out an umbrella once it started to rain. "Taxi!"

"Dear old Dad..." Hallie sighed. "I wonder what he's doing at this very moment?"


	8. Chapter 8

**_Meanwhile at the California airport..._**

Darla yawned and stretched. "Phew! I feel like I've been on that plane all my life."

"Do you see Hallie's father?" Maisy asked from the bag.

Darla rubbed her eyes and looked out the window. "Not right now, maybe when we go out into the airport."

They then left the plane and came out with the people in California.

"Oh, gosh, it's him..." Annie whispered in shock once she caught a look at her father.

"That must be him." Darla smiled.

"Hey, Hal!" Nick smiled. "Welcome home, kiddo!"

Annie ran over to hug her father for the first time in her whole entire life. Darla soon rushed over so she could meet Nick.

"Get in these arms, ya little punk." Nick smiled.

Annie laughed and then hugged him.

"Can I come out now?" Maisy asked.

Darla opened her bag all the way.

Maisy the poked her head out and took a breath. "Phew!"

They soon got to Nick.

"Oh, is this Macy?" Nick asked.

"Maisy," Darla corrected. "And yes, she's my kitten."

"Let's just hope Sammy won't mind." Nick chuckled.

"I'm sure he won't mind." Annie said.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Parker." Darla shook hands with Nick.

"Nice to meet you too, Darla." Nick smiled.

* * *

Annie and Darla were in the back-seat as Nick was now driving them back to the house.

"This is so exciting." Maisy whispered.

Darla looked out the window as they were on the way over to the Parker residence. Maisy looked out as well and where she was amazed by the sights.

"Man, I never saw this side of California before." Darla said as she held Maisy close.

"Yep... Home sweet home." Annie chuckled sheepishly, trying to use an American accent the best that she could.

Darla gave her a thumbs up as Annie's American accent was perfect. Annie gave a thumb's up back, feeling glad that she was able to pull it off.

"I hope you had a lousy time at camp because you are never going back." Nick teased his daughter, obviously not meaning that.

 _'He truly is acting like a good dad.'_ Maisy thought to herself.

Nick and Annie were talking like a normal conversation.

* * *

After a while, they finally got to the Parker residence.

"Oh, my God!" Annie replied as they were pulling up to the driveway.

"Now you're starting to sound like your old self." Nick chuckled as Annie's hospitality was taking over Hallie's usual direct tomboy nature.

"It's amazing." Darla smiled.

"I hope you like it, Darla." Nick smiled back to his guest for the next week or so.

"I'm sure me and Maisy will." Darla said.

Nick pulled up and allowed the girls to then come out.

"Be careful with your words..." Darla whispered to Annie. "You've been a bit too proper lately."

"Can't help it..." Annie whispered back.

"Well, we'll have to see how it'll go." Maisy whispered.

Darla and Annie nodded as they were on their way in the house.

"Oh, I just hope this dog doesn't chase me..." Maisy whispered to herself, referring to the Parker family pet: Sammy.

* * *

They soon went up to the Parker residence. There was barking heard from the balcony.

"Hello, gorgeous!" a middle-aged woman ran over and hugged Annie nice and tight. "Oh, look at you, you grew... Oh, we missed you so much!"

Darla smiled as she walked with Maisy.

"She seems nice." Maisy whispered.

"Hello." Darla waved.

"Oh, you must be Darla," the woman smiled. "I'm sure Hal's told ya all about me, the name's Chessy."

"Hi, Ms. Chessy." Darla shook hands with the woman.

Maisy soon came out of Darla's bag with a mew.

"Oh, and who do we have here?" Chessy greeted.

"This is Maisy, my kitten, I hope no one's allergic." Darla smiled.

"Nope, no one around here is allergic to cats." Chessy smiled.

"Good." Darla smiled back.

"Now, Hallie, don't let these bums talk you out of, going back to camp," Chessy advised with a smile. "You're a growing girl. You need adventure. You hungry? I made cornbread and chili. Why're you so quiet? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just so happy to be home." Annie finally said.

"Hey, did I hear someone say cornbread and chili?" Nick smiled as he walked by, carrying Hallie's bag.

"Yeah, it's on the stove." Chessy nodded to him.

Maisy looked like she would want to have some cornbread. Chessy put her arm around Annie and walked inside with her. Darla and Maisy decided to follow them.

"Hope ya like chili, Darla." Chessy said.

"Just as long as it isn't too spicy." Darla nodded.

"Don't worry, it's not." Chessy smiled.

Annie smiled.

"Something's about you changed..." Chessy observed her.

"Really? Well, it's just the same old me... Honest!" Annie replied before putting her hand behind her back and crossing her fingers.

"Yep." Darla nodded.

There was then barking heard.

"Oh, that must be Sammy." Darla said.

Maisy was nervous since Sammy was a big dog, but she did her best to keep calm. A golden retriever soon came over to them.

"Hi, Sammy!" Annie beamed to the dog.

"Stranger!" Sammy barked aggressively. "You're not Hallie!"

"What is wrong with you, you goofball?" Chessy glanced at Sammy like he was the odd one out. "It's Hallie!"

"Maybe I should speak to him." Maisy whispered before going over to the gold retriever.

Darla nodded to her kitten as she then went inside the house with Annie.

"What's the matter with you?" Chessy pet Sammy before going in the house. "It's like you didn't even recognize her."

"That isn't _my_ Hallie!" Sammy barked, but Chessy of course, could not understand him.

"Wow, it's even better than the pictures." Annie whispered as she looked around the house.

"Sammy, I know that you know that isn't Hallie, but you need to know that the one you were barking at was her twin sister, Annie." Maisy said.

"Hallie doesn't have a sister." Sammy snarled.

"I know this is strange, but this is between us." Maisy said before explaining what happened at summer camp between Annie and Hallie while Chessy went inside with Darla and Annie.

* * *

"This house is amazing." Darla smiled.

"Okay, kiddo," Chessy said as she came into the room. "Whatya wanna do first, girls? You wanna eat and then unpack, or, uh, we could unpack and then eat, or we could eat while we unpack."

"You mean I can eat in my room?" Annie asked as though she never heard of such a thing.

"I'd say it's a definite possibility." Chessy chuckled.

"Cool." Darla smiled.

"Hey, Hal, when you're done, come in the back," Nick came by with a bowl in his hands as he ate the food already. "There's someone I want you to meet."

"Okay, Dad." Annie smiled.

"Okay, Hal." Nick smiled back and went back outside.

There was a young woman with blonde hair, a floppy black hat, and a white gown who was in the backyard with Nick.

"Who is that?" Darla asked.

Annie shrugged obviously, luckily she didn't need to right now. Chessy and Annie went up to Hallie's room to unpack.

"She looks familiar, and yet, so unfamiliar..." Darla wondered about the blonde woman.

"Do you think she's a family member you never met?" Maisy asked.

"I'm not sure..." Darla replied. "Um, Chessy, who's that lady that's with Hallie's dad?" she then asked.

"Her name's Meredith Blake," Chessy replied. "She's a publicist from San Francisco. Hallie's dad hired her at the beginning of the summer to do some publicity for the vineyard and if you ask me, she's done a better job selling herself than the grapes."

"You think she's interested in getting married to him?" Darla asked.

"Well, I'll tell you one thing, she's got Nick eating out of the palm of her hand," Chessy replied metaphorically. "She could give Sharon Stone femme fatal lessons."

"I guess they do everything together then." Darla put her hands together.

"Yeah." Annie said in agreement.

"They ride together, they swim together, they're out to dinner every night." Chessy told them.

Annie took out a camera and began to spy on Meredith and Nick.

"Sounds like they're dating." Darla said as she spied on Nick and Meredith as well.

"You both can go down and meet her for yourself," Chessy replied. "Don't let me influence you."

"Why do you think Meredith is dating Hallie's father?" Darla asked.

"That I can't answer, something about her bothers me though." Chessy replied.

"She must be evil then." Darla said.

"Oh, I wouldn't say evil..." Chessy said.

"I would." Maisy said under her breath.

"How rich is Hallie's father?" Darla asked.

"You have a lot of questions for a guest." Chessy chuckled.

"Oh, I'm just curious..." Darla smiled sheepishly.

Chessy then remembered something about Nick. Darla stood with Annie before narrowing her eyes slightly.

"Actually, Meredith just might be only after Hallie's fathers money." Chessy said.

"You think so?" Darla asked.

"I've seen people like her before..." Chessy nodded.

"What should we do?" Annie asked Darla.

"Go swimming." Darla suggested, wanting to confront Meredith.

"Agreed and get her the wrong idea of Dad." Annie said.

Darla nodded as she then shook hands with Annie. Chessy continued to help the girls unpack and they then decided to go the pool.


	9. Chapter 9

_After getting on their swimsuits..._

Annie wore a T-Shirt over her swimsuit as they came outside while Maisy obviously stayed inside to avoid the water.

"Girls, this is Meredith Blake." Nick introduced the woman to his daughter and her friend.

"Hello, Miss Blake." Darla greeted.

"Hi, wow, I can't believe I'm finally meeting the famous Hallie," Meredith smiled to Hallie. "I've looked forward to this all summer and this must be your friend."

"Darla Fudo." Darla held out her tiny hand.

"It's so nice to meet you." Meredith said while shaking her hand.

Darla shook her hand back as she looked into the woman's grey-blue eyes.

Meredith then smiled to Annie. "Oh, Nicky, she's adorable."

Annie forced herself to smile.

"You know, the way your father talked about you, I expected to meet a little girl, but you and your friend are so grown-up." Meredith cooed.

"I'll be twelve soon," Annie replied. "How old are you?"

Meredith chuckled before answering. "26."

"Impressive." Darla said.

"Only fifteen years older than me," Annie said. "How old are you again, Dad?"

"Wow, suddenly you're so interested in Math," Nick smiled nervously. "Look, I'm gonna go inside, I'm gonna get some more chili and maybe a bottle of champagne to celebrate."

"What are we celebrating?" Darla asked.

Meredith looked to her. "Why, Hallie's homecoming of course." she then said like it was obvious.

"Be right back." Nick smiled as he then went to get that chili and champagne.

Meredith's cell phone then started to ring and she answered it. Darla and Annie soon got in the pool. Annie took off the T-Shirt and stuck her feet into the water as Meredith talked with Reverend Moseby, but she seemed to be lying about Nick over the phone.

"She sounds like she's lying," Darla said to herself as she was a little nervous about swimming in the water, but put one foot in and settled down as she got used to it quickly and her legs didn't change since this wasn't ocean water. "Whew."

Annie looked to her curiously.

"Uh, this water has purified chlorine." Darla smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah." Annie said, slightly confused.

"Oh, yes, I am writing it all down..." Meredith said on the phone, but wasn't even doing anything like she said she was. "Okay, while it all sounds very worthwhile, but unfortunately, I see Mr. Parker is going to be out of the country on those days. Yes, absolutely, I will be there to mention it to him. Thank you!" she then hung up and smiled to the girls. "So, how was camp, girls? Was it fabulous?"

"Hallie's dad is going out of the country?" Darla asked.

"Oh, no," Meredith replied with a small giggle. "I just had to tell a little white lie to get him out of something."

"Ohh." Darla smiled.

"You know, Hallie," Meredith then said to Annie. "I've never met a man who talks about his daughter the way Nicky talks about you. You two are obviously, incredibly close."

"Well, you know, we're closer than close," Annie stood up with a small smirk. "We're all each other has..." she then jumped into the pool to purposely splash the blonde woman.

"Oops, did she splash you?" Darla acted.

"Just a little..." Meredith forced herself to smile as she took off her hat and dried herself off.

Darla hid a giggle at Meredith's misfortune as she then slid into the pool to come beside Annie. "This is a nice pool." she then smiled.

"Hey," Meredith walked over to talk directly to Annie. "Guess what? I went riding with your daddy the other day and he let me ride your horse, I hope that's okay with you."

"Oh, sure!" Annie replied as Darla helped her into the inner tube. "Sprout's used to strange women riding her. Not that you're strange or anything. Actually, compared to the others, you're relatively normal."

"Others?" Meredith replied. "What others?"

"Oh, surely you know..." Darla played along with Annie. "Hal's told me everything. I couldn't blame you for wondering if I were number... What was it?" she then looked to Annie. "28 or 29?"

"I believe 29 if you count Meredith." Annie nodded.

"Ohh, yeah." Darla nodded.

"I'm number 29?" Meredith asked them.

"Yeah..." Annie sighed. "It's always the same routine. Horseback riding, the vineyards, romantic dinners with his special reserved labeled wine, moonlight swims..."

"Yep." Darla nodded in agreement.

"Well, here we are," Nick walked by with two glasses and a bottle. "A bottle of my special reserve label. So, did you girls find something to talk about while I was gone?"

Darla and Annie soon went underwater.

"Does that mean 'yes'?" Nick asked.

"It most certainly does." Meredith said.

Darla and Annie did not trust Meredith one bit. Not one bit at all.


	10. Chapter 10

**_After a while..._**

"We have to tell Hallie." Darla said as she was in her pajamas and it was night now in California.

"Agreed." Annie nodded.

Darla then dried her hair as it dripped water on the floor. After drying off, they soon called Annie's house.

* * *

 ** _In London..._**

It was about time for breakfast.

"You sleep okay?" Amber asked Hallie when it was just the two of them.

"Yeah, Cubby really helps." Hallie smiled.

"Well, I'm happy that you got to sleep okay." Amber smiled back.

"James residence..." Martin answered the phone as the girls walked by. "Annie?"

"Yes, Mawtin?" Hallie replied, using her accent then.

"Oh, dear, it sounded just like you on the phone." Martin replied, looking to her in surprise.

 _'Must be Annie calling for Hallie.'_ Amber thought to herself.

"A Mildred Plotka for you," Martin handed the phone. "Sounds like your twin."

"My twin? Very funny!" Hallie forced a laugh as she took the phone.

"Her twin, oh, please, Martin; Annie doesn't have a twin." Amber smiled nervously.

Martin then shrugged and went off. Hallie held out the phone a little so she and Amber could both talk to Annie and Darla on the phone.

"We can't do that," Amber warned Hallie. "Someone might see us."

Hallie looked behind them. "Let's go in the closet!"

"Yeah." Amber nodded.

Halie and Amber then went in the closet, taking the phone with them.

"Okay, now we can talk." Hallie then said, using her American accent.

"Girls, you won't believe how amazing she is." Amber smiled.

"Oh, my God, Mom's incredible," Hallie added in. "I can not believe I've lived my. entire life without knowing her. She's beautiful and fun and smart and I love the gowns she designs and I got her talking about how she and Dad first met and what happened between them and if you ask me-"

 ** _"Hallie, stop; change in plans, you're gonna have to bring your mom here right away."_ ** Darla said.

"Right away?" Hallie repeated. "Are you nuts? I've had one day with her. I'm just getting to know her. I can't. I refuse."

 ** _"But your dad's in love!"_** Darla replied like that was a bad thing.

"Get out of here," Hallie laughed. "Dad doesn't fall in love."

 ** _"Oh, trust me, Hal, she's serious."_ ** Annie said.

 ** _"He's always holding her hand, kissing her neck, and waiting on her hand and foot."_** Darla added in.

"She is?" Amber and Hallie asked.

 ** _"It's disgusting..."_** Darla and Annie grunted.

Hallie soon found a candy wrapper and knew what to do with it.

 ** _"Come on, guys, we need your help."_** Darla begged and pleaded.

"We'll you guys will just have to break them up..." Hallie shrugged. "Sabotage them, do whatever you have to do."

"Yeah." Amber nodded.

 ** _"We're trying, but we're at a slight disadvantage; I only met the man twelve hours ago,"_ ** Annie warned. **_"You've got to get back here to help me."_**

"Guys, we can't," Hallie said before wrinkling the candy wrapped over the phone to make it sound like static. "I want to spend more time with Mom and Amber wants to spend more time with her aunt."

 ** _"What's that sound?"_** Darla asked as she heard something over the phone.

"Guys, are you still there?" Hallie pretended she couldn't hear them. "I can barely hear you guys!"

"Hallie, what're you doing?!" Amber's eyes widened.

"Operator, operator!" Hallie replied. "Sorry, I think we lost ya guys."

"Hallie!" Amber glared.

 ** _"Thanks for your help, Hal."_ ** Annie firmly pouted before hanging up the phone with Darla.

"Hallie, why did you do that?" Amber asked.

"It's just business, Amber..." Hallie shrugged innocently before coming out of the closet with her.

And where they saw Elizabeth and the others outside of the closet.

"Heh... Had a phone call..." Hallie smiled nervously. "It's an old camp tradition...Talk to your best friend from inside a closet... Kinda stupid, I know but..."

Amber then took the phone and put it back on the stand with a nervous smile. "Breakfast, anyone?"

Patch glanced at them, then looked out the window before beaming and then ran out the front door.

"Patch!" Pongo and Perdita cried out.

* * *

Patch ran down the street and ran into a familiar young puppy.

"Uncle Patch?!" Oddball smiled.

"Oddball." Patch smiled back.

Oddball and Patch nuzzled.

"What're you doing here?" Patch asked.

"Visiting Domino." Oddball smiled, then looked to her brother who was at the end with Dottie and Dipstick who were now talking with Coco and Beamer while Domino looked bored of the adult dogs talking.

"Looks like your brother could use some excitement." Patch said.

"Domino, over here!" Oddball called.

Domino turned over and 'escaped' his parents and great-aunt and great-uncle. He then looked up to Patch with an excited smile. "Uncle Patch!"

"Hey there, Domino." Patch smiled.

"Long time no see, Uncle Patch." Domino smiled back.

"How's your parents?" Patch asked since Dipstick was his brother after all and Dottie was his cousin.

"Oh, same old, same old..." Domino shrugged. "A little lonely though since I'm the only puppy in the house."

"Well, maybe Annie could adopt you." Patch said.

"Annie?" Domino tilted his head.

"Patch, where'd you go?" Amber's voice called out. "It's time for breakfast!"

"I'm coming, Amber!" Patch called out.

Oddball and Domino pouted.

Patch nuzzled against his niece and nephew. "Stay out of trouble."

"We will." Oddball and Domino promised.

Domino decided to follow Patch however, without him noticing.

Oddball was about to go back to their parents and great-aunt and great-uncle until she saw her brother. "Dom-"

"Shh." Domino shushed her.

Domino soon went up to one of the windows to see a nice family inside.

* * *

 ** _Back in California..._**

It was time for breakfast there and Chessy served Hallie's favorite: Sunny side up eggs, bacon, toast, and a stack of humongous chocolate chip pancakes.

"Mm." Darla smiled.

"Thanks, Chessy." Annie replied, though didn't sound too interested in eating the breakfast.

"How are you not interested in this food?" Darla whispered.

"It's too much and not like home..." Annie replied with a frown.

Chessy got worried about Annie not eating since Hallie had a big appetite. "Not hungry again? You hardly ate your chili, your favorite food and now you're not eating your breakfast," she then put her hand on the redheaded girl's forehead. "You're not sick, are you?"

"I'm fine, I promise." Annie replied.

"She just doesn't seem to be hungry." Darla said.

"Hmm..." Chessy hummed.

"Where's Dad?" Annie changed the subject.

"He and Miss 'I'll-Just-Have-Half-A-Grapefruit-Thank-You' left about an hour ago," Chessy replied. "You guys overslept and he didn't wanna wake you. Of course, I'd oversleep too if I was up at midnight making mysterious phone calls from my bathroom."

 _'Oh, crud.'_ Darla thought to herself.

"Oh, that," Annie replied nervously. "We were calling an old friend from camp, Mildred. She lives in New York."

"Oh, I see and you wanted to call Mildred at a time that was convenient for her because of the time difference." Chessy replied.

"Precisely!" Darla smiled nervously.

"Uh-huh, so you guys waited until it was 3:00 in the morning her time," Chessy folded her arms then. "That makes perfect sense."

 _'Uh-oh...'_ Darla thought to herself.

"Actually, it was 7:00 at night her time," Annie quickly covered up. "You see she lives in New York, but she was on vacation with her family in Bora Bora..." she then took a bite of the bacon with a nervous smile.

"Very smooth," Chessy replied. "Hallie, your dad wants you to go over to his office as soon as you're done with breakfast."

"Mind if I join them?" Darla asked.

"It's up to him, but I'm sure he'd like the company." Chessy shrugged.

Darla was about to eat the chocolate pancakes since Annie wasn't going to, but shoved the bacon in her mouth and grabbed the blonde girl by the hand.

"Done!" Annie called.

"Wait!" Darla yelped as she was actually quite hungry.

Sammy growled at Annie, unable to resist since he didn't know her.

"Sammy, will you please calm down?" Maisy said.

"That dog has gotten so weird! Bye, Chessy, thanks again for breakfast. It was great." Annie said nervously.

"Speak for yourself." Darla deadpanned.

Annie then tried to pull on the door, but it wouldn't open which only made Darla face-palm.

"Push, Hal!" Chessy called.

Annie then pushed on the door and it opened. "Right... I forgot..." she smiled nervously before going off with Darla to meet Nick.

* * *

"You couldn't have waited for me to get something to eat first?" Darla asked.

"She was making me nervous, what could I do?" Annie replied.

"Let me eat!" Darla pouted as she held her stomach. "Thanks to you, I'm starving."

"Sorry." Annie said.

Darla narrowed her eyes. "I am not pleasant when I'm hungry..."

"Come on, let's just go see Dad." Annie walked ahead of her.

Maisy came by with a plastic bag filled with the breakfast leftovers.

Darla smiled to her, petted her, and ate it. "Thanks, girl."

"No problem." Maisy smiled.

Darla then munched on the breakfast as she followed Annie to the vineyards.

"Hopefully Hallie's dad doesn't mind the company." Maisy whispered.


	11. Chapter 11

"I'm gonna ask Dad after my mum." Annie said to Darla.

"Great." Darla said.

Annie nodded as they walked along. Darla popped her fingers in her mouth as she had bacon grease leftover.

"Mm, delicious." Darla smiled.

"Wow, you were hungry." Annie said.

"Uh, duh..." Darla smirked. "This isn't baby fat ya know."

"Oh, right." Annie said.

Darla kept eating the breakfast leftovers as they were on the way to see Nick. And where Nick would have something to tell Annie who he thought was Hallie.

* * *

"Honey, I'm glad you're here, there's something really important I want to talk to you about." Nick hugged his daughter.

"Well, there is something really important I want to talk to you about." Annie said.

"Okay, you go first." Nick replied.

"Uh, no you..." Annie replied back.

"Yeah." Darla agreed.

"Okay, I want to talk to you about Meredith." Nick said.

"And I want to talk to you about my mother," Annie replied, but then stopped once she realized what he said. "What about Meredith?"

"W-W-What about your mother?" Nick then asked, surprised of that request.

"Well, she's just curious." Darla said.

"Dad, I'm almost twelve, how long do you expect me to buy that story that The Stork dropped me on your doorstep?" Annie continued.

"I was adopted," Darla spoke up. "I usually think about my natural family even though I really love my new family."

"That's great that you love them, Darla." Nick said.

"So, about my mother?" Annie reminded.

"Oh, Hal..." Nick sighed. "We've talked about your mother."

"No we haven't," Annie replied "Not really. A girl needs more in life than half of a crumpled old photograph. Dad, I'm almost a teenager, face it, I need a mother."

"Yeah and she means a real mother one that loves her and understands her." Darla said.

"You know what? You're both right," Nick nodded. "You're both absolutely right. Which brings me to-"

Meredith was in a black gown this time and was riding in a golf cart with a sharply dressed man.

"Meredith!" Nick smiled.

"It's as if she came here right on cue." Darla said with narrowed eyes.

"Of course." Annie nearly deadpanned.

"Hello there, girls," Meredith smiled. "Girls, this is my assistant, Richard. Richard, this is Nick's daughter, the one I've been telling you so much about, and this is her friend from camp, I think, Dolly."

"Darla." Darla narrowed her eyes even more.

"Hello there." Richard smiled to the girls.

"Hi." Darla and Annie forced smiles back.

 _'I can't believe that she had to be here.'_ Darla thought to herself.

"Hey, if you're free later, why don't we all have lunch on the terrace?" Meredith asked Nick.

"Actually, I promised Hal we'd hang out together this afternoon." Nick said as he put his arm around his daughter who then smiled in return.

"Uh, shoo shoo." Darla smirked while waving her tiny hand away.

"I'm going, I'm going." Meredith said. She then promised to see them later at dinner.

"You don't mind if we have some alone time together, do you?" Nick asked Darla.

"No, no, I'll just catch up with my family and spend some time with Maisy." Darla replied.

"See Dad? She doesn't mind." Annie said.

"Well, okay." Nick smiled.

 _'Anything than being with that woman...'_ Darla rolled her eyes about Meredith.

* * *

Nick and Annie soon went horse-back riding while Darla was in the living room with her kitten.

"I think Chessy is catching on," Maisy said. "She seems really suspicious of Hallie."

"Uh-oh..." Darla frowned.

"What do we do?" Maisy asked.

Darla sighed. "I'd hate to get Annie in trouble, but... I think Chessy needs to find out the truth."

"Yeah, but how?" Maisy asked.

"I'm not sure..." Darla sighed, she then heard the phone ring.

Chessy answered it and then gave it to Darla as it was for her.

"Hello?" Darla answered the phone.

 ** _'Darla, is something wrong?'_** Atticus's voice asked which made Darla instantly nervous. **_'Because my big brother senses feel trouble.'_**

"Um, well..." Darla said.

 ** _'If you need me; I can be there in a flash.'_** Atticus's voice said.

Darla sighed. "It's a long story."

Atticus could tell something was wrong then. **_'Darla, tell your big brother what you need.'_**

"Can you keep a secret?" Darla asked nervously.

 ** _'Yes,'_** Atticus said. **_'And I'll be there right away.'_**

"No, wait, you don't have to come-" Darla started.

Atticus put the phone down and looked to Mo and Cherry. "You guys wanna go to California?"

"As long as I'm out of the sun." Cherry said.

"I just love your big brother instincts~" Mo purred. "It's so sexy~"

"Mo, I'm right here!" Cherry cringed.

Atticus soon teleported himself Mo and Cherry to California and they appeared in the Parker residence. Darla blinked as she looked to them with a nervous smile.

* * *

Cherry then took the phone and hung it up. "How's it going, Dimples?"

"What's wrong, Darla; is there anything going on that you need our help?" Mo asked.

Darla sighed before taking a deep breath and telling them everything that had happened since summer camp up until this point.

"Sounds like you only need one of us then, well, I'll be going then, see ya." Cherry said.

"Gee thanks for helping my little sister, Cherry..." Atticus deadpanned.

"She doesn't like me..." Darla pouted.

Cherry groaned before stopping and then going back over to them.

Atticus hugged Darla. "This is a grown up move, but you shouldn't have lied."

"I know..." Darla sighed.

"Young lady, are you gonna have to be visited by the Lie Fairy?" Cherry smirked.

"Lie Fairy?" Mo asked.

"'When little boys and girls tell little white lies, the Lie Fairy comes'." Cherry recited.

"What was that?" Darla asked.

"You heard me." Cherry replied.

Darla looked lost.

"We heard it somewhere growing up..." Atticus shrugged.

"I've never heard of such a fairy." Darla said.

"It's okay, kid, same with me." Mo soothed.

"Chessy is getting suspicious already," Maisy said. "I've tried to calm Sammy down, but he refuses to believe that Annie is Hallie."

"Looks like he'll need to be told that Annie is Hallie's twin sister." Atticus said.

"We can't!" Darla frowned. "Not now! Not yet!"

"Darla, what have we always taught you?" Atticus prompted.

Darla sighed. "The truth will set you free."

"So we have to tell Sammy and Chessy." Mo said.

Darla soon saw Annie running back to the house. "This can't be good..." she said, then went to see her friend.

"She'll be right back." Maisy said to the others for Darla.

* * *

Annie ran right inside.

"Annie, what's wrong?" Darla asked.

"I just can't..." Annie sighed, speaking in her English accent. "I'm in so over my head here. I can't handle this alone. I just can't. I'm only one kid."

"Well, you won't have to worry about doing this on your own." Atticus said.

"You all want to clear me up on what's going on?" Chessy asked as she appeared to be sitting in one of the chairs.

Annie gasped and put her hand on her chest. "Oh, Chessy, you gave me a fright."

"I gave you a fright?" Chessy eyed Annie strangely for that choice of words.

"She means you startled her." Mo said.

"You're sure there's nothing you wanna talk to me about, Hal?" Chessy quizzed Annie as she sounded like an interrogator now. "Like maybe why Sammy never comes near you anymore or why your appetite's suddenly changed or why all of a sudden you're neat as a pin and using expressions like, 'You gave me a fright'..."

"Chessy, I just changed a lot this summer, that's all." Annie replied, trying to hide her accent now.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say it's almost as if you were-" Chessy was about to say until she then shook it off. "Oh, never mind, that's impossible."

"As if she was who?" Cherry asked.

"Nobody... Nobody..." Chessy ignored the new company as she was overwhelmed right now. "Forget I even mentioned it."

"Almost as if she were Annie?" Darla spoke up then, unable to hold it in any much longer.

Chessy then stopped suddenly as goosebumps dotted her skin and she turned to the group. "How do you know about Annie?"

"Because I told her and where she told them and the reason why I know Annie is because I am Annie." Annie said in her English accent.

Chessy looked in shock then, unsure what else to say. Atticus hid a smile as he was proud that both girls did tell the truth this time.

Nick soon came into the house. "Why did you take off like this?" he asked his daughter while trying to catch his breath. "I told you I wanted to talk to you about something?" he then noticed how his friend looked emotional towards Annie and Darla. "Chessy, why are you looking at Hallie like that?"

 _'It's because she hasn't seen Annie in years.'_ Darla thought to herself.

Chessy looked broken and she then hugged Annie since she hadn't hugged Annie in eleven years. Cherry, Atticus, Mo, and Darla then gestured for Chessy not to say anything just yet. Chessy nodded, understanding. She then went off to make something Annie would like to eat and maybe not as much since Annie didn't eat as much as Hallie.

"So, what did you need to talk to Hallie about, sir?" Darla asked.

"I want to know what she thinks about making Meredith a part of this family." Nick replied.

"Part of our family?" Annie's face paled.

"Yes." Nick nodded.

"Totally, it's like a dream come true," Annie agreed. "I've always wanted a big sister."

"Um, I don't think that's what he means." Atticus said.

"No, I'm not," Annie replied. "Dad's going to adopt Meredith. That's so sweet."

"I'm not going to adopt her, I'm going to marry her." Nick replied.

"And her reaction in three... Two... One." Mo counted.

"Marry her?!" Annie yelped.

"Right on cue." Mo hid a smirk.

Darla pouted for her friend. Poor Annie. Annie started to rant and then started to speak French. Cherry put her hands over her ears, somehow understanding exactly what Annie said.

"Hal, calm down," Nick said at first before then realizing what was being said. "Now you can speak French?!"

"I taught her." Darla quickly input.

"It's true." Annie said.

Nick looked to her so they could talk about this father to daughter.

"Atticus, my stomach feels funny about this whole trying to trick Mr. Parker..." Darla said to her big brother.

"It's called guilt, Darla," Atticus replied. "And the only way to get rid of it is to get the pressure off your chest."

"But if I tell him the truth then he'll know that Annie isn't Hallie." Darla said.

"It's up to you..." Cherry said.

"That's not fair." Darla frowned.

"No one ever said life was gonna be fair." Cherry shrugged.

Darla sighed as she was learning the hard part of life. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Because we love you, sweetheart..." Atticus replied. "You're my little sister and it's my job to make sure you learn what you need to learn to avoid getting hurt."

"Fine." Darla sighed.

Mo patted her on the head gently.

"How do you handle life, Cherry?" Darla asked the perky goth curiously.

"I always felt like I did something horrible in a past life and this new life is my eternal punishment..." Cherry narrowed her eyes.

"Seriously?" Darla asked.

"Can I die now?" Cherry asked, almost hopefully.

"No." Atticus said.

"I hate you..." Cherry glanced.

"Oh, please, without me, you would be nothing." Atticus replied.

"Excuse me?!" Cherry glared.

"Oh, no..." Mo gulped.

"Hey, nothing personal, but you wouldn't be the person you are today if it wasn't for me..." Atticus put his hands up in defense.

"Atticus, please stop talking." Mo sighed.

"It's true." Atticus said.

Cherry roared and lunged out for him and whacked him in the face with a pillow. Darla glanced at the sight oddly. Cherry continued to attack him with the pillow even though the pillow didn't do much damage. Atticus yawned as Cherry kept swatting him with a pillow. Nick was a little worried about 'Hallie's' reaction about him marrying Meredith.

"I don't think she wants you to marry anyone else, sir." Darla said.

Nick sighed as he then went outside to sulk and Meredith was there to comfort him.

"Atticus, Cherry, I'm sorry, but I just don't trust Meredith Blake." Darla told the others.

"It's okay, we don't like her either, she's a gold digger." Cherry said.

"Yeah, she's only interested in money." Atticus said.

"Gold digger?" Darla asked.

"It's when a woman only marries a man for his money." Mo said.

"Something about that woman seems familiar to me though..." Darla said. "I just can't think of from where. My life's a blur up until I was first adopted and became a movie star."

"Hmm..." Atticus hummed before he used his magic and brought out a computer and used it to got some information on Meredith Blake.

Cherry and Mo sat on both sides of him.

Atticus looked up after seeing one result which would impact Darla's life. "Apparently, she used to date LB Mammoth."

"Wow." Mo said.

"Hmm..." Darla hummed.

"Used for money... Blah blah blah..." Atticus said, then his eyes widened. "It says here she's planning on sending Hallie to boarding school."

"What?!" Mo exclaimed.

Darla leaned in to see for herself.

"Basically anything to get 'Nicky dear' to herself..." Atticus rolled his eyes until more info was blocked. "Cherry, what's your sister's password?"

"1199." Cherry told him.

Atticus typed that in and was allowed to gain more access.

"Great, thanks." Atticus said.

Cherry gave a thumb's up.

"Now let us see how we can get rid of her." Atticus said.

"There must be something..." Darla crossed her arms. "Even if I have to sabotage."

"I think we should talk to her." Mo said.

"It's true." Atticus said.

"Are we going to be evil?" Mo smirked eagerly.

"Possibly." Cherry said.

Mo smirked to Atticus.

"We'll see." Atticus smiled.

"Yes!" Mo grinned darkly.

"Should I be concerned?" Maisy asked.

"I know I am." Darla told her.


	12. Chapter 12

Later on, Meredith and Nick had some alone time and even Chessy was starting to get annoyed by the blonde woman.

"Time to get evil." Cherry said.

The others nodded.

"Let's get dangerous." Cherry smiled viciously.

"Yeah." Atticus nodded in agreement.

Annie sighed as she sulked in her room about her father marrying Meredith which meant her plan with Hallie to reunite their parents had failed and had no chances of getting back together. Darla decided to tell Annie about what Atticus and the others were going to do.

"You would do that?" Annie asked.

"Of course," Darla smiled. "My brother and his friends are amazing when it comes to making things right in the end."

"Well then, I'm happy that they came." Annie said.

"So am I," Darla smiled. "They're the best... Especially Atticus, he's a great big brother, I don't know what I'd do without him."

"Shall we listen into their conversation with Meredith?" Annie asked.

"Oh, but eavesdropping is wrong..." Darla pouted before smirking darkly. "Let's do it."

* * *

They soon snuck out of Hallie's room and to where Atticus, Cherry, and Mo were going to talk to Meredith at. They listened in as Meredith came in the back to see Nick. Nick was of course worried about his daughter and wondered why she was acting so strange, but Meredith just wanted him to move on and get over it which of course, a true loving and caring father would not do to his own daughter.

 _'Time to get this woman away from him.'_ Mo thought to herself.

Meredith rang a bell which summoned Chessy.

"You rang?" Chessy deadpanned.

"Two martinis, please," Meredith smiled as she cuddled against Nick. "And make Mr. Parker's a double."

"Ches, please, I'm getting a migraine." Nick replied.

Chessy hid an eye roll as she then went to get them drinks while Nick told Meredith about him marrying her to 'Hallie'.

 _'Okay, now should be a good time.'_ Mo thought to herself.

Cherry walked over which made Nick and Meredith yelp once she spoke since they didn't know she was there. "Hi."

"Um, hello, who are you?" Meredith asked.

"What's going on?" Cherry asked.

"Oh, Hallie's having a tough time..." Nick sighed.

"Maybe you should just call it off..." Cherry replied mysteriously. "There's other fish in the sea."

"Excuse me?" Meredith looked insulted.

"I mean she could be having a hard time accepting Meredith because she has a bad feeling about her." Cherry said.

Meredith walked up to Cherry and looked her dead in the eye. "I'm starting to feel like you don't trust me."

"That's the nicest thing I do with someone." Cherry blinked emotionlessly.

"You don't smile much, do you?" Meredith asked.

"Why waste facial muscles while you use Botox?" Cherry retorted.

Atticus winced at that, then mimicked a burn sound as Cherry had said that.

"May I please speak to these three for a moment?" Meredith asked Nick.

"That sounds fine..." Nick replied.

Meredith nodded and then grabbed Cherry's hand and pulled her inside.

"Ooh, nice grip, is this before or after plastic surgery?" Cherry continued.

Atticus and Mo soon went with them. Annie sat with Darla as she continued to sulk about this whole thing of her father marrying Meredith who clearly didn't love him. She soon saw Cherry, Atticus, and Mo with Meredith.

"Can we talk?" Meredith asked.

"If you have anything to say to An-Erm... Hallie, you can say to me." Darla glared.

"No, Darla, it's okay." Annie said in her American accent.

Darla looked over and decided to let the two have some privacy, though not really as she would eavesdrop.

'Time for Annie to get to know more about Meredith.' Mo thought to herself.

"Guess the news of the engagement came as a bit of a shock, huh?" Meredith smiled to Annie.

"Basically," Annie whispered. "It would become quite a surprise for anyone."

"You know, I remember what it was like to be eleven," Meredith said to Annie. "I had my first beau at eleven. It's a wonderful age. You're starting to feel like a woman and believe it or not, soon, you'll understand what it's like to be in love."

"Me?" Annie scoffed. "I don't think so. I don't even have my twelve-year-old molars yet."

"She's right." Darla said.

"Well, take it from someone who got their molars very early in life... Being in love is a fantastic mystery that takes a man and woman on-" Meredith smiled.

'Is she really going to try to explain about love?' Mo thought to herself.

"I don't mean to be jerky when you're trying to be all mushy and everything, but I know what mystery my dad sees in you." Annie interjected.

"You do?" Meredith asked.

"You're young and beautiful and sexy and hey, the guy's only human," Annie replied. But if you ask me, marriage is supposed to be based on something more than just sex, right?"

"Boy," Meredith leaned back, crossing her legs. "Your father underestimates you."

"But you won't," Annie folded her arms and crossed her legs with a smirk. "Will you, Meredith?"

"And we know more about who you are, Meredith Blake." Atticus smirked.

"Oh, and is being beautiful and young a crime?" Meredith replied. "And for your '411', I adore Hallie's father. He's exactly the kind of man I always planned on marrying. This is the real deal, honey and nothing you do is going to come between as. The reality is, angel, you are no longer the only girl in Nick Parker's life," she then mocked Annie. "Get over it."

"That's it, she dies!" Cherry growled, but Atticus and Mo held her back.

"So then I guess his money has nothing to do with you wanting to marry him?" Atticus smirked at Meredith.

"Okay, brats," Meredith glared as she leaned forward, not even acting nice and sweet this time which was clearly fake. "You all listen and you listen good, I am marrying Hallie's father in two weeks whether you all like it or not. So I suggest you all don't tangle with me anymore. You're all in way over your heads, is that clear?"

"Crystal." Atticus, Mo, Cherry, and Darla said.

Annie then nodded in agreement. Later on, Annie and Darla were going to send a fax to London.

* * *

 ** _Speaking of which, meanwhile..._**

Pongo and Perdita smiled as they were meeting their grandpups.

"Grandmama!" Oddball beamed.

"Oh, look at you, aren't you just the sweetest little thing?" Perdita cooed as she held Oddball.

"Our grandfather's the legendary Pongo?" Domino asked with a big smile "Awwwesome!"

"Oh, I wouldn't say legendary." Pongo smiled bashfully.

Martin was pouring wine for Charles and Elizabeth as they talked with Hallie and Amber.

"May we have a sip?" Hallie asked, using her English accent.

"I don't think you're gonna like it." Elizabeth smirked, but allowed Hallie to have a sample of the wine, but only a small one since she wasn't 21 yet.

"I wonder how it will taste?" Amber said.

Hallie took the glass and sampled the wine.

"Remember, darling, just a little." Anita warned her niece.

"Yes, Aunt Anita, thank you." Amber smiled as she then tested the wine herself.

Patch and everyone in the room soon waited to here their reaction.

"If you ask me, the bouquet is a little too robust for a Merlot, but then again, I'm partial to the softer California grape." Hallie told Charles and Elizabeth after she swished the wine in her mouth like at a wine tasting party.

"Uh... Ditto." Amber shrugged sheepishly.

"You have no idea what I just said, do you?" Hallie whispered.

"Not really." Amber whispered back.

Charles and Elizabeth chuckled with Hallie's answer.

Hallie then looked over to see a fax in Martin's arm and she tried to take a look until she then fell flat on the floor.

"Oh, Annie, are you all right?" Roger asked in concern.

"I had one sip too many, I guess," Hallie smiled nervously. "You know, Mother, Amber and I feel like we could use a bit of fresh air. Would it be okay if we stepped outside for a moment?"

"Yeah and I think Patch needs a walk." Amber smiled nervously as well.

Patch glanced at them until he could see a certain look in Amber's eyes, he then whined and scratched at the door.

"Do you want us to come with you girls?" Anita asked.

"No, no, no, we're fine," Hallie smiled nervously. "Just got a touch woozy, that's all."

"I've seen you and Uncle Roger this all the time, we'll be fine." Amber smiled as she hooked the leash onto Patch's collar.

Roger, Anita, and Charles soon got suspicious as Amber, Hallie, and Patch left.

"Woozy, huh?" Charles replied.

Roger and Anita nodded in agreement with the elder man. Amber and Hallie rushed outside with their coats as they walked with Patch on his leash.

* * *

"This must be an emergency." Patch whispered as they made their way to a phone booth.

"It is..." Amber said as she showed him the fax which had a drawing of a dog with 9-1-1 on it.

"Um, yes, I'd like to place a collect call to America, please?" Hallie spoke over the phone as soon as she dialed the number.

* * *

Darla and Annie and Patch soon started to wait for Hallie and Amber and Maisy.

As soon as the phone rang, Annie answered the phone instantly. "Hello?"

 ** _"What's up?"_** Hallie greeted in her American accent.

"Hal, we're desperate!" Annie replied in her English accent. "Dad's getting married!"

 ** _"Wait, what?!"_** Amber and Patch asked out of shock once they overheard what Annie said.

"We mean black tie, white gown, the whole enchilada!" Darla replied.

"The wedding's in two weeks," Annie added in. "If there's any hope of Mum and Dad getting back together, we've got to do it fast and I mean really fast!"

 ** _"Any ideas, Hal?"_** Patch asked.

"Look, we're going to the theater with Mom tonight," Hal spoke up. "I-I'll drop the bomb on her first thing in the morning."

"Okay, thanks," Annie sounded relieved. "And Hallie?"

" **HURRY!** " Annie and Darla then said together urgently.

"We will." Amber and Hallie promised.

* * *

Hallie then hung up the phone and opened the door until she saw she had bumped into someone. "Oh, excuse us, sir."

They soon saw that it was Charles along with Roger, Anita, Pongo, and Perdita.

"Uh-oh..." Hallie, Amber, and Patch gulped.

"Uh-oh, yes..." Charles chuckled. "Now, let's say we take a stroll in the park, eh, young ladies?"

"Okay." Hallie and Amber agreed nervously.

Patch looked nervous to his parents. This was going to be a long explanation.

"It's a long story..." Amber sighed.

"Well, if you recall, this is a very big park," Roger replied. "I'm sure we'll have plenty of time."

"This is the park where we first met." Anita added in.

"I know, Mum and Dad have told me the story many times." Patch said.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Anita... Uncle Roger..." Amber bit her lip.

Hallie, Amber, and Patch started to explain everything to Charles, Roger, Anita, Pongo, and Perdita.


	13. Chapter 13

**_After the explanation..._**

"Interesting..." Anita replied. "I hardly remember Nick Parker, but that makes sense now that you say it like that."

"So now, we have to get them back together before he gets married to an evil woman." Amber said.

"You sure she's evil?" Perdita asked.

"She reminds me of Cruella." Patch replied.

"This lady that's going to marry him is only after his money." Amber said.

"And Annie's told you this?" Roger then asked.

"Yes, Uncle Roger," Amber nodded. "Darla too and I know it's true because Darla said it and she's my best friend in the whole wide world, she would never ever do anything to hurt me."

"And Maisy is there with them." Patch said.

"We see..." Roger replied. "How do you propose to tell Elizabeth?"

"We'll have to have Hallie tell her." Patch said.

"The truth will set you free." Anita recited.

"Yes, Aunt Anita..." Amber nodded. "I know that very well."

"Of course you do, you're a very good girl." Roger smiled to his niece by marriage.

* * *

Once they got home, Hallie began to pace around, trying to think how she should tell her mother. She had Cubby at hand since he was her stuffed animal and she always clung to him for support despite her bad girl attitude at camp. Elizabeth was on the phone with someone and was speaking in mostly French.

"Just get it over with." Amber whispered.

"Just do it, sweet pea." Charles agreed.

Hallie took a deep breath and came into her mother's bedroom to spill out the truth to her to get it over with and off her chest. The truth would set her free.

"Oh, Annie, come in," Elizabeth said after hanging up. "I just have to get this sketch finished and sent to Paris. Now how about you and I go out to lunch and spend the rest of the day getting lost in Harrods, hmm?"

"I can't." Hallie said.

Elizabeth curiously looked to her daughter.

"I'm sorry, I have to go out of town today." Hallie continued as she hugged Cubby.

"You have to go out of town?" Elizabeth looked to her. "And where may I ask are you going?"

Hallie hid under the covers, feeling too nervous to tell the truth right now.

"Annie? Annie..." Elizabeth laughed a little, finding this funny.

"But I have to go, I have to go see Annie!" Hallie yelped under the covers.

"I see," Elizabeth smirked, thinking this was a little game. "And where might Annie be?"

"In Napa with her father, Nick Parker." Hallie said in her normal accent with her voice breaking.

Elizabeth soon frowned, now finding this not a game, but Hallie telling her the truth; she looked to Amber, Charles, Roger, Anita, Patch, Pongo, and Perdita. The others nodded to the blonde woman to confirm that this was really happening.

Elizabeth then pulled back to covers to look to her long-lost daughter from California. "You're not Annie..." she then whispered in shock.

"That would be correct." Hallie nodded.

"You're Hallie?" Elizabeth smiled.

"I am..." Hallie said as she sat up in the bed, sounding like she was going to cry.

Elizabeth put her hand to her mouth in total shock.

"Annie and I met at camp with Darla and Amber and w-we decided to switch places," Hallie confessed. "I'm sorry, but I'd never seen you and I'd dreamt of meeting you my whole life and Annie felt the exact same way about Dad, so we sorta just switched lives. I hope you're not mad because I love you so much and I just hope one day you can love me as me and not as Annie."

'I know that she does.' Anita thought to herself.

Elizabeth hugged Hallie nice and tight. "Oh, honey, I've loved you your whole life."

Roger sniffled as he sounded like he was going to cry. Anita soon gave him a box of tissues. Roger took the tissues as he let out a cry.

"Oh, come here, dear..." Anita hugged her husband as tears poured out of his eyes.

Martin seemed to be in the same position. Hallie and Elizabeth hid smiles of amusement as Martin joined in on the tear-jerking/heartwarming moment between the mother and daughter. And where Charles soon closed the doors, leaving the two alone.

"We'll let Hallie take it from here." Amber told the others.

Patch firmly nodded in agreement.

"Smart decision." Anita said.

"Well, I am a smart girl..." Amber smiled to her aunt.

"It's true she is." Patch smiled.

Roger and Anita chuckled. Anita then hugged her aunt and uncle. Hallie and Elizabeth soon agreed to meet Annie and Nick so then Hallie and Annie could be switched back.

* * *

"So, the plan worked in some ways..." Amber said as she sat on the guest bed with Patch.

"Yeah, it did." Patch agreed.

"Can I come with you both to meet the real Annie?" Domino asked as he entered the room.

"Domino." Amber and Patch greeted.

"Oh, please," Domino begged. "I barely get out of the house anymore... Oddball lives with Jessica and you guys go out all the time."

"Well, I'm sure that would be okay," Patch smiled to his nephew. "Can you promise to be a good boy?"

"Scout's Honor!" Domino saluted.

"Alright then, you can come." Patch said.

"Yes!" Domino cheered. "Don't get me wrong, I love Mum, Dad, Aunt Coco and Uncle Beamer, but..."

"I understand," Patch knew how he felt. "You wanna get out of the house and see the world for yourself."

"Precisely." Domino nodded.

"You remind me of myself when I was your age." Patch chuckled.

"That means I'm cool then." Domino smirked.

"Oh, cheeky, aren't we?" Patch ruffled up the top of his nephew's head with his paw.

"Hey!" Domino laughed.

Patch laughed with him. Amber smiled at the bonding.

Hallie came to see Amber after a while. "Well, we're going to meet Annie and Dad."

"Great." Amber smiled.

"Uncle Patch, I wish I could wrestle with you without getting hurt." Domino said.

"Well luckily for you, I know how to make your wish come true, but we'll talk about that later after breakfast." Patch said.

Domino pouted, but then nodded.

* * *

Everyone was then eating a quick breakfast and after they were done, they were going to meet with Annie and Nick and Amber and Hallie were hoping that the plan would work and Nick and Elizabeth would become a couple again and live happily ever after.

"Now?" Domino smiled.

"All right, come here." Patch smiled back.

Domino and Patch then went to a space while the humans went to get ready for their trip.

"Okay, give me your paw." Patch told his nephew.

Domino soon gave him his right paw. Patch then took the paw and massaged it.

"Uh, Uncle Patch, no offense, this seems nice and all, but-" Domino spoke up.

"Patience, my dear nephew, patience." Patch replied as he continued.

Domino soon sighed as he needed to wait.

After a while, he was soon muscular as Tripod when he was a pup and was now as strong as Patch. Patch then let go with a smile.

Domino looked around and pouted. "I don't feel any different."

"Wanna bet?" Patch smirked before pouncing on top of Domino to playfully wrestle him.

Domino soon started to wrestle with Patch as he was now as strong as him. Patch and Domino laughed as they were living up to Domino's wishes. Patch soon used his magic to make a mirror appear so then Domino could see his new physique.

"Wow... I'm amazing..." Domino smiled, he then rushed up to the top of a bench. "I can do anything. I CAN FLY!" he then jumped off the bench.

"Uh, well..." Patch looked nervous.

Domino then fell flat on the ground. Once he fell flat on the floor, the ground shook.

"Okay, so I can't fly." Domino muffled.

Patch then helped Domino up. "You okay?"

"Yeah..." Domino sighed.

"At least you're as strong as me now." Patch said.

"That is awesome!" Domino beamed. "Did I ever tell you that you're my favorite uncle?"

Patch laughed. "Yeah, your sister says the same thing."

"Well, you are." Domino smiled.

"Well, you are my favorite nephew." Patch smiled back.

Domino laughed and hugged his uncle. Path soon hugged him back. Domino nuzzled against him. Patch then carried Domino on his back as they went back to the house as everyone was almost ready to go.

* * *

Elizabeth was a bit anxious about seeing Nick for the first time in twelve years.

"What should we do?" Amber whispered.

"What a drama queen." Paprika huffed.

"She hasn't seen her husband in twelve years, what do you expect?" Patch asked.

"Hmm..." Paprika merely hummed.

Martin decided to help Elizabeth out in this situation. Hallie decided to tell her mother a little white lie.

"Hallie...?" Amber glanced to her friend in concern.

Hallie gave a simple thumb's up. Amber then shrugged and let her go on as Elizabeth was in distress about seeing Nick for the first time in years. Hallie nodded before going in.

"So, Hallie said he was a hunk?" Elizabeth then said after a while. "He was rawther dishy. He had a smile that could make me weak at the knees if you could imagine that."

Martin rolled his eyes to that briefly.

 _'Any girl would feel that when they are in love.'_ Amber thought to herself.

"We're all set, Mom." Hallie said as she came in with Amber.

"Great," Elizabeth smiled as she was dressed, but her suitcase was empty. "Me too... Almost..."

"Don't worry, everything will be fine." Amber said.

"Uh, did you speak to your father, dear?" Elizabeth asked Hallie.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, I just hung up with him actually," Hallie replied. "He said he's really anxious to see you."

"Anxious excited like he can't wait to see me or anxious nervous like he's already regretting it?" Elizabeth asked.

"Anxious excited," Hallie smiled. "Definitely."

"Oh... Okay..." Elizabeth replied.

"He said he'll meet us tomorrow at noon at the Stanford Hotel in San Francisco." Hallie smiled.

'She's really doing this?' Amber thought to herself.

"My, my, my, that seems incredibly soon, doesn't it?" Elizabeth replied. "Well, honey, why don't you run downstairs and gather our tickets from your grandfather and Amber's aunt and uncle while I finish up here?"

"Alright, Mom." Hallie said.

"Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire~" Martin whispered to Hallie.

Hallie then flashed him a 'shut up' look.

"Oh, Martin, I have a really ridiculous, somewhat childish request to make," Elizabeth came to the butler's side. "Martin, you know you're more than a butler to me, more like a lovable brother who happens to wait on us, so, anyway, I was wondering if you could-"

"I'll accompany you, make it a bit easier on you." Martin finished for her with a smile.

 _'Wow, he was happy to accept her offer just like that.'_ Amber thought to herself.

* * *

"So, Paprika, you wanna come with us?" Patch asked his snooty niece.

"No thanks," Paprika curled up into a ball with a smile. "I better catch up on my beauty rest."

"Okay." Patch smiled.

Paprika then turned over and went to get some sleep.

"I don't have any idea where she could get that from..." Patch said to himself. "Tripod is athletic while Cadpig is energetic and eccentric. Maybe she spends too much time with Aunt Coco."

"Yes, yes, she does." Domino nodded.

"You coming, Domino?" Patch smiled.

"Yes, Uncle Patch." Domino smiled back.

"Great, because I don't want you to miss a thing." Patch said.

"I don't wanna miss a thing either." Domino agreed, bravely and full of adventure.

"Oh, man, you remind me so much of me at your age." Patch smiled in admiration.

This made Domino smiled out of excitement. Patch smiled back.


	14. Chapter 14

Martin dressed in a leather jacket and looked like a bad boy as he was going to go to San Francisco with the others.

"Going with the bad boy look." Patch said.

"Showtime." Martin said as he slid on a pair of sunglasses.

"Come on, come on, let's get going." Domino smiled.

"Patience, Domino." Patch chuckled to his nephew.

Elizabeth was cuddling her father goodbye.

"I'd better go with Amber just to make sure she's safe." Anita told her husband since Amber was her niece biologically.

"That sounds safe." Roger said.

Anita hugged her husband. "Take care."'

"I will, darling." Roger hugged his wife back.

"Come on, let's get going." Amber said.

"Wish me luck." Elizabeth said as she went off.

"Oh, good luck!" Charles smiled to his daughter, he then went to the house and gave Hallie a nice, tight hug.

"Bye, Pop." Hallie said softly.

"Goodbye, Hal." Charles smiled to her.

'This plan is going to work.' Patch thought to himself.

"Remember, you're visiting Hallie and Annie in Napa for Thanksgiving." Amber told the elder man.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Charles smiled.

"Bye..." Hallie whispered as it was then time to go.

"Come along, dears." Anita called.

"We're coming, Aunt Anita." Amber smiled.

"Oh, and say hello to your father for me!" Charles told Hallie.

"I will!" Hallie promised with a smile.

Charles then closed the gate and gave a thumb's up as he stood beside Roger, Pongo, Perdita, and Paprika.

Hallie crossed her fingers as she then went in the car with Amber and the others.

"So brave and daring, like her ancestor Merida from Scotland." Charles smiled in admiration.

"Oh, your family's Scottish?" Roger asked in surprised.

"Me wife was Scottish..." Charles nodded. "I hope someday to tell Hallie and Annie that they are descended from Princess Merida."

"I'm sure you will." Roger said.

Hallie and Amber then got into the car with Elizabeth and Anita, and then they were off. They then drove to the airport and flew on British Airways to visit San Francisco.

"This is so exciting." Domino smiled.

"Be good now." Patch reminded.

"Yes, sir." Domino nodded.

* * *

 ** _Meanwhile at the airport..._**

Anne-Marie appeared to be with David, Sasha, and Charlie as they all ended up in San Francisco, though the two kids were alone.

"So, have you considered having a boyfriend?" David asked.

"Sometimes..." Anne-Marie blushed. "When I was younger, I always wanted my own Prince Charming."

"Really?" David smiled.

"Yeah..." Anne-Marie shuffled her foot.

Charlie hid a smirk.

"Uh, excuse me..." Anne-Marie walked away for a moment which made Charlie go after her.

"Come on, Squeaker, he obviously likes ya..." Charlie said to the formerly orphaned girl.

"Really?" Anne-Marie asked.

"I'm sure of it..." Charlie smiled back.

"Oh, Charlie..." Anne-Marie hugged the German Shepherd she had known who saved her from being a slave to Carface and sacrificed himself to save her which allowed him to go to Heaven instead of Hell.

"I don't think she likes me, Sasha..." David hung his head sadly.

"Of course she does, David." Sasha smiled.

David and Anne-Marie sighed as they were unsure if the other liked them which was actually true, but Charlie and Sasha had to help them see that.

"Hey, guys, long time no see." Mo smiled to David and Anne-Marie.

"Hey there, you two." Atticus also smiled.

"Hi, Atticus..." Anne-Marie greeted.

"Hey, Mo." David smiled back.

Charlie and Sasha then came over to see Atticus and Mo.

"What're you guys doing in the airport?" Mo asked the younger kids.

"Dad's coming back from out of town and Anne-Marie wanted to come too," David explained. "Mom's back home with Anne-Marie's parents, she thinks the baby could be born any day now."

"That's great." Atticus smiled.

"Are you guys okay?" Mo asked.

"Fine..." David and Anne-Marie whispered shyly while Charlie and Sasha were encouraging them to tell each other how they felt about each other.

'I can sense that these two like each other, but are too shy to tell the other.' Atticus thought to himself.

Charlie and Sasha then went to one window together and smiled to each other.

"Something about Sasha seems different..." Mo said.

"She's going to have puppies sometime soon." David told her.

"Really?" Mo smiled.

David nodded.

"At least that's what we heard from Flo." Anne-Marie then said about Charlie's old female border collie friend who took care of orphaned puppies.

"That's great." Atticus said.

"By the way, are you two together?" Mo asked the two younger kids which made them blush.

"I'll take that as an almost." Atticus smirked.

Mo giggled with him as David and Anne-Marie looked to each other shyly.

"Um, so why are you guys here?" David asked.

"We're waiting for someone with a friend of ours." Atticus replied.

"Yeah, it's a special surprise." Mo smiled.

"Ooh." Anne-Marie said.

"You can trust us." David smiled.

Atticus and Mo smiled back as they hoped this would work out just fine for Hallie and Annie.

* * *

Eventually, everything came together at the airport and it was now time to meet at the hotel as Meredith was with her parents.

"Oh, great, the Cruella deVil look a like is here." Mo groaned.

"Okay, be nice, Daddy," Meredith said to her father. "It's everything you ever wanted for your little girl. Plus millions more."

"Then you know I'll be nice." Mr. Blake smirked which made his wife chuckle.

"We can see where she gets her greediness from." Atticus whispered.

"She's a real b-" Cherry was about to say but then tried something else. "Witch with a captain B."

"Yes, she is." Mo nodded.

"Totally..." Atticus agreed with the girls.

Nick was now coming with Chessy, Annie, and Sammy.

"Oh, there he is," Meredith told her parents before grumbling. "With the whole Motley Crew..."

"Hello." Darla smirked.

"Hi, darling..." Meredith smiled to Nick, taking his hand.

Annie and Chessy hid flinches as the two kissed on the lips.

"Hallie... Chessy... Darla and her family..." Meredith forced a smile to them. "And Sammy, what in the world are you doing here? Honey, a dog at the Stanford?"

"The girls begged me to bring him." Nick replied.

"As well as Maisy." Darla said as she brought out her kitten.

"You're such a softy..." Meredith said to Nick before reaching out to the pets.

Maisy hissed and nearly swatted a clawed paw while Sammy barked aggressively to the blonde woman.

"Good girl." Darla whispered.

"Good dog." Chessy whispered to Sammy.

Maisy and Sammy both smiled to Darla and Chessy then.

"So these two must be your parents." Darla said.

"Yes," Meredith replied. "Mom, Daddy, this is my fiancee, the love of my life: Nicholas Parker."

Nick smiled politely and shook hands with Mr. Blake.

"Love of her life, yeah right." Cherry whispered.

"I'm so pleased to meet you," Mrs. Blake smiled to Nick. "I'm Vicky."

"That fits." Darla said under her breath as the woman seemed to share a name with a certain evil babysitter she knew.

"By any chance, do you have a niece by the same name?" Atticus asked.

"No, I'm sorry, but my brother Reed owns Callum Dairy." Vicky replied.

"Good to know." Mo said.

"Yes, I'm afraid my only nieces are Taylor and Courtney." Vicky nodded.

 _'I have a feeling we'll meet those two someday in the future.'_ Cherry thought to herself.

"And this is Nicholas's daughter Hallie," Meredith told her parents. "This whole prenuptial meeting agreement was all her idea."

"How are you, young lady?" Mr. Blake smiled. "We've heard nothing but wonderful things about you and your friend, Daisy."

"Darla." Darla corrected, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"Hello, pets," Vicky smiled. "You may both call me 'Aunt Vicky'."

"I think we'll pass." Darla said.

Annie recoiled in disgust with the older woman since she was Meredith's mother and she seemed even worse than her daughter.

* * *

 ** _Meanwhile, outside..._**

Annie, Elizabeth, Anita, Amber, and the others pulled up by limo and Martin went to let them out after driving them to the hotel entrance. And where after their car door was opened, Elizabeth was going to be coming out first, drunk. Anita face-palmed her friend slightly as Martin helped her out.

"Oh, brother..." Amber sighed.

Elizabeth finished her bottle and tossed it in the air. "That was a great flight, was it? I mean, it was so quick!"

"I've never seen you quite so thirsty before, Madam." Martin commented.

"Same here." Anita agreed.

"Oh, Martin, would you believe I never tasted vodka before this trip?" Elizabeth replied as she slipped on her shoes.

"I would believe it." Amber said.

"Could've fooled me, ma'am." Martin replied.

"Come on, let's rock and roll." Elizabeth said.

"I am in such major danger here." Hallie said to Amber.

"You have no idea." Amber sighed.

* * *

Meredith was then walking with the others in the hotel as they were planning on what to do for the wedding. Sammy caught a familiar scent as they walked along.

"Sammy, what's up?" Maisy whispered.

"I smell... I smell... I smell..." Sammy muttered before running off. "It has to be her!"

"Sammy!" Annie cried out as she ran with the dog.

"Uh-oh, looks like she's here." Maisy whispered to Darla.

"Sammy, easy!" Darla called out, worried of the dog.

Hallie and the others were on their way into the elevator.

Elizabeth stopped the door from closing. "Whoops, forgot my bag!" she then went to get her bag.

" **HALLIE!** " Sammy barked happily.

"Sammy!" Hallie smiled.

Annie and Chessy gasped. Sammy ran out of Annie's control, taking the leash with him as he raced over to Hallie to finally reunite with her. Domino soon saw Annie and decided to rush over to her to get to know her. Sammy jumped over a luggage cart and ran into Hallie's open arms.

" **SAMMY!** " Hallie squealed as she hugged her dog for the first time in ages.

Amber smiled to that. Domino did the same thing as he made his way to Annie.

Annie looked down and bent down with a smile. "Who are you?~"

"My name's Domino!" Domino smiled up to her.

"You can talk too?" Annie smiled.

"Uh-huh..." Domino nodded. "My uncle says it's because of Puppy Power, and he should know, 'cuz he's a Pound Puppy."

"You sure are a handsome puppy." Annie smiled.

Domino smiled bashfully in response.

Annie smiled back as she then looked up to Elizabeth in shock. "Mum!"

"Darling, you didn't have to wait for me," Elizabeth smiled, thinking she was still Hallie. "I could've found the room by myself."

Annie then waved the air in front of her once she took notice that her mother had been drinking.

"Listen, I need to get a little fresh air," Elizabeth continued. "Go on, sweetie, I'll meet you upstairs."

"She's been drinking." Domino said.

Annie nodded in agreement.

"I like that jacket by the way," Elizabeth said as she stumbled away. "Did you wear that on the way over here?"

"Mum, look out!" Annie yelped as her mother nearly ran into a man carrying a potted plant.

"I take it she doesn't always get drunk." Domino said.

"She's never had more than one glass of wine in her entire life," Annie shook her head. "And she chooses today to show up totally zonked!"

"Yeah, well, we'll do as she says, we'll meet her upstairs." Chessy suggested.

"I agree." Domino said.

"Come here, boy." Annie allowed him to come with them.

Domino then followed the girl and woman.

"Looks like Domino has met Annie." Atticus smiled.

"Oh, nice," Cherry deadpanned. "Another dumb dog."

Atticus narrowed his eyes. "Dogs arent' dumb."

"Uh, yes, they are," Cherry laughed. "And nothing will change my mind." She soon heard Patch's growling behind her.

Atticus turned his head away.

Cherry looked down. "What do you want?"

Patch started to bark as he started chasing her. Cherry yelped as she then ran. Patch continued to chase her.

"Oh, please don't bite me!" Cherry begged. "This is why I like cats, they don't chase you or make scary loud noises!"

"Why is Patch chasing Cherry?" Mo asked.

"Cherry dissed dogs." Atticus replied.

"Ohh." Mo said.

"Atticus, stop this crazy thing!" Cherry begged.

"Nope." Atticus smirked.

"Oh, I hate you right now..." Cherry groaned. She soon rushed into an elevator.

* * *

Patch growled as he came to the elevator. Cherry tapped the button over and over to close the doors. And where the doors soon closed and where she soon forgot about one thing about Patch. Cherry smiled and leaned back in relief with her eyes closed. The elevator then seemed to jolt and the doors cracked open while Patch glared as he opened the doors with his paws.

"Oh, darn..." Cherry muttered.

"Forget I'm super strong?" Patch growled.

Cherry smiled nervously. The doors then slowly closed on the two.

"I wonder how the elevator will handle those two?" Mo said.

"Same here." Atticus agreed.

The elevator soon started to shake. The elevator came back to the lobby. Cherry yelped and ran as Patch continued to chase her.

"Take back of what you said!" Patch barked.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" Cherry yelped nervously. "Just let me liiiive! Dogs aren't dumb animals!"

Patch soon stopped chasing her and went back to Atticus. Cherry shivered slightly.

Atticus bent down and pet his puppy before giving him a treat. "Really missed ya, boy."

"I missed you too." Patch said before begging for the treat in order to have it.

Atticus chuckled before he gave Patch the treat.

Patch accepted the treat and licked his muzzle. "Liver?"

"Bacon." Atticus smiled.

"Even better." Patch smiled back.

They soon saw Nick and Meredith arriving to an elevator. Cherry walked by shakily which made them glance to her slightly.

"Do you suppose she's okay?" Nick asked.

"Oh, who cares?" Meredith sounded uncaring towards Cherry's well-being.

"Seriously?" Atticus whispered as he tried his hardest not to hit Meredith with a fist.

Mo narrowed her eyes.

"You okay, Cherry?" Atticus asked.

"I'll be fine... I just need a glass of water." Cherry replied.

Atticus soon gave Cherry a bottle of water.

Cherry took it and drank it right away and cleared her throat. "Ah, much better."


	15. Chapter 15

Unfortunately, Elizabeth came back to see Nick with another woman. Nick looked in shock to see Elizabeth and wanted to see her then, but the door then closed on him and Meredith. Elizabeth weakly waved before becoming angry.

"Uh-oh, looks like she found out." Patch whispered.

"Hallie Parker!" Elizabeth stormed down the hallway.

Annie and Hallie both came out with Darla and Amber.

"I'm not in the mood for this." Elizabeth said.

"It's me, Mum, Annie." Annie said as she stood beside Darla.

"Annie!" Elizabeth smiled and hugged her daughter. "You look wonderful!"

Hallie then smiled and went to hug Elizabeth as well.

"Aw!" Maisy smiled.

"I can't believe you're together." Elizabeth smiled to the twins. "But how could you do this to me?"

"Uh, excuse me, I'd hate to interrupt, but might I suggest we continue this little pow-wow inside?" Chessy came over with an apologetic smile. "Hi, you probably don't remember me..."

"Chessy!" Elizabeth beamed and kissed the cheeks of the woman.

"So she does remember you." Darla smiled.

"I knew I always liked her." Chessy smiled back.

* * *

Darla, Amber, and Maisy soon got inside. Hallie and Annie were made to sit on a couch and they both felt nervous as Elizabeth looked firm with them. Domino stayed by Annie's side.

"Now, one of you, I'm not sure which at the moment, but one of you told me your father knew I was arriving here today," Elizabeth sharply said to the twins. "And I'm here to tell you that my way to the elevator had absolutely no idea we were on the same pallet! Let alone, in the same hotel."

"You already saw Dad?" Annie asked.

"I did," Elizabeth said before collapsing onto the couch. "The man looked at me like I was the bloody Ghost of Christmas Past! Could one of you get something cold for my head?"

Annie then decided to get something for her poor mother.

"Looks like he wasn't expecting you." Domino said.

"Are you talking to me?" Elizabeth asked the puppy.

"Yes, ma'am," Domino smiled. "My Uncle Patch taught me and my brother and sister all about Puppy Power."

"Amazing." Elizabeth said.

Domino smiled.

"Anyway," Elizabeth then got back on topic. "Annie, have you wondered what it would be like to see your father after all these years? Well, let me tell you... Me waving like a mindless idiot while Nick Parker's wrapped around another woman's arms, snogging in such a scenario act in such a way."

"Snogging? "Darla whispered to Amber.

"Kissing." Amber whispered back.

"Oh." Darla then said.

"Wow." Maisy said.

Martin then walked by in a blue speedo with a towel around his shoulders as he whistled a tune to himself on his way out of the room.

" **MARTIN!** " Elizabeth gasped wildly at him. "What are you doing?!"

"Going for a dip, ma'am, do you mind?" Martin replied.

"Wow..." Amber said.

"Oh, no, no, that's p-perfectly fine..." Elizabeth told Martin as Hallie and Annie looked like they were going to laugh. "Someone ought to-"

Chessy walked by and smirked to Martin. "Hello."

"Hello, hello to you." Martin smiled back.

'I can sense love about to blossom.' Darla thought to herself.

"Chessy, this is our butler, Martin." Elizabeth introduced.

"How do you do?" Chessy smiled shyly. "I'm her butler."

"Enchante, mademoiselle." Martin took the back of her hand and kissed it like a gentleman.

"Gee, the pleasure's all mine, Monsieur." Chessy smiled.

"Yep, definitely love at first sight." Darla smiled.

Amber giggled. "It reminds me of when Aunt Anita met Uncle Roger."

"Aw!" Darla smiled.

"Girls, you are going to tell me why you lied and brought me here without telling your father!" Elizabeth demanded to Hallie and Annie.

"Were they? Oh, well, that's okay, I'll just go back to my room and Darla can come too if she wants..." Chessy said uneasily. "Check out the old Meat Bar situation."

"Allow me to assist you!" Martin quickly volunteered.

"Wait for me." Amber said.

"Martin! Wait!" Elizabeth called. "Does everyone here know something I don't know?"

"You might as well tell her, Annie." Darla said.

"Mum..." Annie took a deep breath. "Dad's getting married."

Elizabeth then shot down quickly in shock and discomfort.

"To Cruella deVil." Hallie added in, referring to Meredith and not the real Cruella.

"She's awful, Mum, we can't let him go through with it." Annie told their mother.

"She's only going to marry him for his money." Darla said.

"And the only way he won't do it is if he sees you again." Amber urged Elizabeth.

"Wait, you're not trying to set me up with Nick..." Elizabeth then looked at the four girls.

"Actually, we are." Darla said.

Martin and Chessy then tried to sneak out.

"You're perfect for each other!" Amber agreed.

"Hold it!" Elizabeth replied before looking to her butler and Nick's housekeeper. "You two knew about this?"

Martin and Chessy then stammered nervously to get out of the mess. Elizabeth was waiting for them to confess. Darla and Amber bit their lips worriedly. Domino began to look a bit nervous himself. Elizabeth pulled a face which then made Chessy and Martin confess that they had known all about this. Hallie and Annie sighed as they were now busted.

"Gee, thanks for keeping it a secret, you two." Domino sighed.

"Okay, okay," Elizabeth said as she walked over to them. "Let me say this loud and clear. Nick Parker and I have absolutely nothing in common!... Anymore. Plus, in case you haven't noticed; he seems extremely content with his kitty, tight-skirted, barebacked fiancee! And I want the two of you to explain with your friends to your father that I am here for one purpose and one purpose only: And that is, to switch the two of you back. Now, let's do what we have to do and be done with it! Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." Darla nodded.

Annie and Hallie then agreed to split up and go see Nick as soon as possible. Domino shivered nervously from Elizabeth's strictness. He soon rushed over to Annie. Annie smiled down to Domino.

"I like you." Domino smiled back up to Annie.

"I like you too, boy." Annie smiled back down to the puppy.

Domino nuzzled up against her.

Annie then bent down and picked him up in her arms. "Ooh, you're really strong for a puppy."

"Thanks, my uncle helped me get strong." Domino smiled.

Annie smiled back down. Nick was wandering down the hallway.

"Uh-oh, I better hide." Domino said.

Annie then tried to hide Domino away as Nick was on his way around and seemed to mistake her for Hallie as he was too nervous to notice.

* * *

 _'What does he need?'_ Domino thought to himself.

"How do I look? Great?" Nick smiled nervously.

"You look fab, Dad, definitely fab!" Annie replied, using an American accent.

"Does he really?" Domino whispered.

"I don't know..." Annie muttered as she held Domino close.

"Good to know." Domino whispered.

Nick came down the elevator.

"Dad!" Hallie greeted.

Nick was confused because he thought he saw Hallie upstairs. Hallie then went to the elevator and Meredith came in front of her.

"Have you seen your father?" Meredith asked.

"You talking to me?" Hallie asked in confusion.

"Who are you, Robert DeNiro?" Meredith rolled her eyes. "Yes, I am talking to you."

"Ohh, Meredith," Hallie nodded once she saw that this was the lady that her twin told her about. "Yeah, I just did."

"Well, hello?!" Meredith replied. "Where was he?"

"Uh, he went thataway, I think." Hallie replied, pointing down the hallway.

Meredith soon looked into the direction she pointed. Hallie then looked up and down to Meredith.

Meredith looked back in mild annoyance. "What are you staring at?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing," Hallie shook her head with a smile. "You're just very, very pretty, that's all."

Meredith simply scoffed at this attempt of buttering up to her. "Don't make me think you're gonna break your rotten streak and say something nice to me... If you see your father, tell him he's late and I'm waiting..." she then walked off down the hall.

"Whatever you say, Cruella." Hallie muttered.

* * *

Meredith seemed to walk into a bar.

"Here you go, this will cure anything you got," the bartender came over to Elizabeth with a drink which appeared to be a Bloody Mary. "Just don't ask what's in it."

"Okay..." Elizabeth then sat up and took her drink right away. "Here's to..." she then saw Meredith next to her. "Here's to you, and your life which is less complicated than mine." she then gulped down her drink right away.

Meredith soon ordered a drink for herself. "Martini dry, please."

Elizabeth let out a loud belch after taking her drink. Meredith then gaped to her.

"Beg your pardon, I think I just drank alcohol." Elizabeth muttered before drinking more.

The bartender soon gave Elizabeth her check. "And your bill, Ms. James."

Elizabeth signed her name as Meredith then took the olives out of her drink.

And where the name seemed to catch Meredith's attention. "You're Elizabeth James?"

"Guilty." Elizabeth replied.

Meredith soon got excited as she had ordered a wedding dress designed from her. Elizabeth smiled as she talked with Meredith.

Domino wandered around and overheard this as his left ear went up. "Sounds like they are getting along." he then said.


	16. Chapter 16

Cherry groaned and took a pill since they were near the water and boats.

"What's wrong, Cherry?" Mo asked.

"Seasickness." Atticus told Cherry.

Cherry nodded as she took a deep breath to adjust her pill inside her digestive tract.

"Should we go to the pool?" Mo asked.

"Here, let me teach you how to swim." Atticus said.

"What about your... Situation?" Mo asked.

"This isn't ocean water, it'll be fine." Atticus smiled.

"Oh, right." Mo said.

Atticus then took off his shirt as he sat on the edge of the pool and stuck his bare feet into the water.

Mo blushed as she saw him shirtless. "Oh, my~"

"Wanna come into the pool?" Atticus asked.

"Sure..." Mo turned as red as her bandanna as she sat next to him.

Atticus soon got in the pool. Mo then joined him, sliding into the pool next to him. Atticus then taught Mo how to swim in a pool. Nick was then wandering around, passing people and the pool area.

"Looks like he's trying to see if he's not just imagining his ex-wife being here." Atticus said.

"I can't blame him." Mo said as she waded in the water next to him.

Cherry slowly shut her eyes as she sat on the edge of the pool with only her feet in the water. Mo soon playfully decided to act like she was drowning so her boyfriend could save her. Atticus then did a backstroke in the water.

Cherry looked over and rolled her eyes. "Your girlfriend's drowning."

Atticus soon stopped before he dived in to save Mo.

"Help, Atticus, help!" Mo called out as she splashed herself.

Atticus soon came up from under her and scooped her up into a bridal style.

"Oh, Atticus, you're so brave and strong..." Mo smiled.

"You okay?" Atticus asked as he carried her.

"Yeah." Mo smiled.

Atticus smiled back.

"How about a kiss for my hero?" Mo offered before puckering her lips.

"Sure." Atticus shrugged before he kissed her.

Mo smiled as she received the kiss while turning bright pink in her face. Cherry smirked as she saw what Mo did. Atticus and Mo then held each other close.

 _'So strong.'_ Mo thought to herself.

Cherry gagged at the display between Atticus and Mo while she lounged.

* * *

Nick continued to look around and where at first it seemed like what he saw in the lobby was just his imagination.

Cherry looked up to Nick. "He looks so lost."

Meredith's parents soon came over to him. Elizabeth was in Nick's eyes as he walked along and looked confused once he spotted her.

"Mr. Parker, watch out!" Domino yelped out.

Nick ran into a waiter and he ended up slipping and falling into the pool. SPLASH!

"That's gotta hurt." Maisy winced.

"I'm sure he's fine." Darla said before cringing as Amber nodded in hope.

Cherry shook a little as the splash mostly soaked her.

"You okay?" Atticus asked.

"I'll live..." Cherry shrugged as she waved her hair.

Nick soon got out of the pool, stunned to see Elizabeth. Elizabeth smiled and looked down to Nick curiously.

"Hello, Nick." Elizabeth smiled.

Martin took a picture from his camera which made Domino give him a 'Really?' look on his face.

"Hello, Liz." Nick smiled back once he knew for sure that she was really there. And where he was confused of why she wasn't stunned to see him.

The two shared a talk. Elizabeth was clearly still in love with Nick however.

"I'm stunned to see you, but somehow; you're not so stunned to see me." Nick said.

Elizabeth looked to him.

"I mean, I haven't seen or heard from you for, what? Ten? Eleven years?" Nick replied. "All the sudden, on the very day, I-"

"Dad, I can explain why she's here." Annie came beside Elizabeth.

"Hallie, you know who this is?" Nick asked.

"Actually yes, and actually, I'm not Hallie." Annie then said, removing her sunglasses and used her English accent.

"Actually, I am." Hallie came beside her twin.

"Ta-da." Darla said.

Nick was in shock and amazement and smiled to the English twin. "Annie? Hallie?"

"I guess you and Mum kind of think alike because you sent us both to the same camp and we met there with Darla and Amber," Annie replied. "And it sort of... Spilled out."

"Yep." Amber nodded.

"They switched places on us, Nick." Elizabeth told her ex-lover.

"You mean I had Annie with me all this time?" Nick asked.

"Well, I wanted to know what you were like and Hallie wanted to know Mum... Are you angry?" Annie replied.

"Oh, honey, of course not," Nick smiled to his long-lost daughter before hugging her. "I just can't believe it's you."

 _'This is going great.'_ Darla thought to herself.

Cherry turned her head and sniffled.

"Cherry, are you crying?" Amber asked.

"Some of the chlorine went up my nose..." Cherry replied.

"Ohh." Atticus said.

Cherry was really crying, but she kept her face away so no one would see her crying, but Domino could see her.

"Are you crying?" Domino asked.

"I don't cry." Cherry replied.

Domino nuzzled against her. "It's okay to cry, you know."

"Get off of me!" Cherry picked him up and moved him.

"Okay, okay." Domino said.

Cherry wiped her eyes.

"Yep, she's crying." Domino said before walking off on his own back to where Annie and Hallie were.

"The last time I saw you, you had diaper rash." Nick chuckled to Annie.

"Aw!" Amber smiled.

* * *

Annie and Nick hugged each other nice and tight. Domino smiled at the sight as he stood beside Annie's feet.

"Domino." Amber picked him up with a giggle.

Domino whined to be put back down so he could be with Annie.

Amber could see who Domino wanted to be with. "Domino...?" she asked as she put him back down on the floor.

Domino then went beside Annie and smiled up to her.

Amber then smiled. "I think Domino found his true home away from his parents... Oddball has Atticus's sister and Little Dipper is gone on his own..."

Domino soon went up to Annie and started to lick her. Annie giggled as she then sat down and held the puppy. Nick flinched at first, but then smiled once he saw the dog wasn't dangerous.

"Well, this is a better welcome from a dog than from Sammy." Annie giggled as Domino licked her face.

"Uh, girls, why don't you give your father and me a moment alone to talk?" Elizabeth suggested.

Annie and Hallie were a little nervous of that, but they agreed. Domino then followed Annie around like, well, what else? A lost puppy.

 _'I wonder what they'll talk about.'_ Darla thought to herself.

* * *

Soon enough, Meredith came by.

"Oh, great..." Atticus and Mo grumbled once they saw the blonde woman.

"I think we might be actually happy to see her since she's going to be in for a surprise." Cherry said.

The others looked to her, wondering what she could mean by that.

"Just wait for it." Cherry smirked.

Meredith soon came over to Nick. She then looked confused once she saw Nick with Elizabeth. "But I don't understand, how did you two meet and Nicky, why are you all wet?"

"You're making my fiancee's wedding gown." Nick smiled to Elizabeth.

"I-I didn't know she was your fiancee." Elizabeth smiled apologetically.

"Ohh." Atticus and Mo smirked.

They all then wondered how they all met which made everyone else smirk while Hallie and Annie looked concerned.

"You know, this is one small world." Nick said.

"How small?" Meredith asked.

Hallie and Annie then both came to Meredith's sides to give her the shock of her life.

"Hi, Mer." Annie greeted in her American accent.

"Hello." Meredith greeted.

"How you doing?" Hallie greeted her in her normal accent.

Meredith screamed once she saw there were two redheaded girls.

"Honey, did I ever mention to you that Hallie was a twin?" Nick spoke up.

"No, I'm afraid you forgot that little detail." Meredith replied shakily.

"Worth the wait." Cherry smirked.

Atticus and Mo agreed with her there.

"Don't feel bad, Mer, he didn't mention it to be either." Hallie smirked. "By the way, I'm the real Hallie, this Annie. She was pretending to be me while I was pretending to be her. And this, is our mother: Elizabeth James."

"This is your mother?" Meredith asked in surprise, but tried to hide it.

"Yes." Hallie and Annie nodded.

"You were married to him?" Meredith asked Elizabeth while trying to hold back her anger.

Nick and Elizabeth chuckled and approved of that question to be true.

"Amber's aunt was my bridesmaid, she caught the bouquet." Elizabeth spoke up shyly.

"Well, this is a small world..." Meredith said with clenched teeth.

"I'm loving this." Cherry smirked.

"You don't like Meredith, huh?" Mo asked.

"Nope..." Cherry replied. "She just has that feel."

Atticus nodded in agreement. Domino came beside Meredith's legs and lifted his back hind leg before his tongue dangled out in relief. Meredith soon felt something wet on her feet. Annie cupped her mouth once she saw what Domino did. Domino whistled innocently and then walked over closer to the twins and their parents.

"Oh, what a cute puppy!" Meredith said through her teeth, trying not to lose her temper around Nick.

 _'Looks like that wasn't enough to bring out her true nature.'_ Domino thought to himself.

Chessy and Martin hid snickers about Meredith's misfortune.


	17. Chapter 17

**_Later that night..._**

Annie and Amber sat together with Anita as they had some tea together while Domino came in and looked like he wanted to join in.

"Oh, how cute, he's like a little person~" Anita cooed with a giggle as Domino sat in an empty chair at the table with them.

"Good evening, Domino, would you like some tea?" Annie asked.

Domino nodded with a smile. Anita then poured a small cup of tea for the puppy. Domino then lapped it up which made Amber and Annie giggle.

"What?" Domino asked.

Annie pet Domino. "Oh, I love this puppy."

"He seems to like you too." Anita smiled in agreement.

"Do you think Mum would let me keep him?" Annie asked Amber.

"I don't know, you'll have to ask your mother." Anita said.

"I hope she says yes..." Annie said as she really liked Domino and the feeling was mutual.

Elizabeth came out in a black dress.

"Oh, you look lovely, Lizzie!" Anita beamed.

"Thank you, Annie says there's a surprise for me later tonight." Elizabeth replied.

"Indeed there is." Annie smiled.

"Amber, don't you have something to ask you mom?" Amber asked.

"Oh, um... Mum...?" Annie looked over. "I know you have a lot on your mind, but... Could I maybe have a puppy of my very own?"

"You mean one like Domino?" Elizabeth smirked playfully.

"Erm... Yes, Mum..." Annie smiled. "I really like him and he really likes me."

"Well, I guess you can keep him." Elizabeth smiled.

"Yay!" Annie and Domino cheered.

"He'll be your responsibility though." Elizabeth reminded.

"Oh, yes, Mum, I understand." Annie nodded as she hugged the puppy.

Domino soon licked her. Annie giggled from the licking.

* * *

Later on, Annie wore a blue and white dress with a blue headband with her mother as Nick was coming in his suit while Hallie wore her hair up and had a glossy pink dress. Domino soon came as well. He had on a bow tie around his collar to look like a 'gentlepup'.

 _'This is going to be a great night.'_ Domino thought to himself.

"Hello." Elizabeth greeted.

Nick looked over and saw her. "Hey."

The pairs then walked toward each other with their respective daughters.

"So, do you know where they're taking us?" Elizabeth whispered to Nick.

"Not a clue." Nick whispered back.

"I can tell you where." Domino smiled.

Nick and Elizabeth then looked down to Domino.

"It has something to do with how you two first met." Domino said.

Nick and Elizabeth then looked to each other.

* * *

It was a beautiful night as Hallie and Annie led their parents to recreate their first night together. Domino soon pointed out to an ocean liner they were going to eat at. Nick and Elizabeth looked in amazement as they then went up the stairs.

"So, how exactly are we paying for this?" Nick asked.

"Well, we pulled our allowances." Annie replied.

"Yeah right, Annie." Nick said.

"Okay, Grandfather chipped in a bit..." Annie then admitted.

"Annie..." Elizabeth looked to her.

"Okay, he chipped in a lot." Annie then confessed.

"Come on, you guys are gonna love it." Hallie gestured for them to follow her.

"Yeah, it'll be a night to remember." Domino smiled.

"Pretty snazzy." Nick commented.

"Elizabeth and Nick, your dinner awaits you." Hallie smiled before opening the door.

"Please enter." Domino said.

Elizabeth and Nick smiled as they came in and saw a nicely set table with flowers and candlesticks.

"Ta-da." Domino smiled.

"The table's only set for two." Nick pointed out.

"Oh! That's the other part of the surprise," Annie smiled. "We're not joining you."

"Yeah." Domino smiled.

"You're not?" Elizabeth asked.

"No, but I am," Chessy smiled as she walked in with a silver tray. "Good evening, I'm Chessy, and I'll be your server this evening. No icebergs included."

Domino nodded to confirm this.

"And I'm Martin, your tender, shall I get you a bubbly?" Martin came with a bottle of champagne.

 _'I don't know what bubbly means.'_ Domino thought to himself.

Nick and Elizabeth took their seats while Annie and Hallie sat farther away. Annie took out a remote and played the song that Nick and Elizabeth first heard when they first saw each other.

"Nice." Domino whispered.

There was a floating ring that said Queen Elizabeth 2 1986. Nick and Elizabeth found it very charming that their daughters would do this for them.

"We'll leave you two alone." Domino smiled.

Annie then picked up Domino again and walked with Hallie to a table away from their parents.

"They're recreating the night we met." Nick smiled.

Elizabeth smiled back.

"The boat, the music..." Nick listed.

"The help." Chessy added in with a smirk.

Everything was just like how Elizabeth and Nick met except that Martin and Chessy weren't there when they met.

"Martin, I think I'll take that drink." Nick called to the butler.

Martin smiled and walked over with two glasses of champagne. Nick and Elizabeth soon started to enjoy their meal. Annie, Hallie, and Domino smiled as this seemed to be working out just nicely.

* * *

Oddball came aboard and spotted Domino. "There you are, Bro, Mum and Dad are worried about ya, it's time to go home," She soon saw that Domino was happy with Annie. "Domino..." she then smiled softly. "You _are_ home..."

"Mm-hmm..." Domino smiled back and looked up to Annie.

"We should tell Mum and Dad though." Oddball suggested.

"I agree." Domino nodded back.

Oddball and Domino then shared a sibling hug. The rest of the night went well.

* * *

Later on, Nick and Elizabeth decided to share some news with their twins. And where they knew the twins might not like it. Domino had a pleasant night's sleep with Annie and he knew from then that she was the right human for him and before they would leave home, he would get his Uncle Patch to say goodbye to his parents so he could have a whole new life. Annie and Hallie had a suspicion that their parents would want to split apart again. They then reminded Nick of the camping trip that Hallie and he would go on before she would go back to school and Annie wanted to come too.

 _'This is going to work perfectly.'_ Domino thought to himself.

Annie and Hallie then tricked Elizabeth to find out which twin was which.

"Girls, this is totally unfunny, you're going to make your mother miss your airplane." Nick told the twins.

"Well, you two being unfair by splitting them up as you two are going back to England and California." Domino said.

"We'll pack up for home as soon as it's over." Hallie suggested.

"The four of us." Annie agreed as she held Domino.

"The four of us?" Elizabeth replied.

"And when you bring them back, we'll tell you who's Annie and who's Hallie." Domino then smirked as Nick and Elizabeth had a hard time telling their twin daughters apart.

"Or you three tell us right now, whether you like it or not." Elizabeth said.

It was then settled. Regardless of what just happened, they were going on their camping trip.

"Maybe we should get going home, Roger, dear," Anita said on the phone before they were hitting the road. "I'm sure the puppies are anxious without Pongo and Perdy."

"I agree." Roger nodded.

Anita then got off the phone and came to Elizabeth. "Thank you for this time, but we're going to head home."

"Okay, Anita," Elizabeth hugged her friend goodbye. "You and Roger have a safe trip back home."

Anita and Roger hugged her back before hugging Amber as she wanted to go on the trip with Annie, Hallie, and Darla.

"Bye, Mother, bye, Dad." Patch hugged his parents.

"Bye, Patch." Pongo and Perdita hugged him back.

"Get home safe." Patch smiled to them.

Pongo and Perdita smiled back and then joined Roger and Anita to go back to the farm.

"This is going to be one fun trip." Domino smiled.

"Yeah!" Oddball agreed. "Too bad the Buddies can't be here."

"The Buddies?" Domino asked, then realized. "Oh! Those are Air Bud's puppies that you're friends with, right?" he then asked his sister.

"Yeah, we go on all sorts of adventures, especially with Uncle Patch." Oddball smiled.

"Yep, who knows? Maybe one time, we will go into space." Patch said.

"Didn't you guys already do that?" Oddball asked.

"Oh, no, no," Patch shook his head. "We played a space game before I told them that they had to get adopted."

"Oh... Yeah..." Oddball chuckled sheepishly. "I hope we see them again soon... Especially Budderball."

"Ooh, sounds like someone is in love." Domino smirked.

Oddball blushed. "What?!"

Patch cupped his muzzle with a small smirk.

"Nuh-uh!" Oddball glared.

"Yuh-huh!" Domino retorted.

"This could be a while." Patch sighed.

Soon enough, they were all packed up and ready to go on the camping trip.


	18. Chapter 18

"And what am I supposed to do for three days?" Meredith complained to Nick about the camping trip. "Just stay home and knit?"

"Honey, we do have kind of a sticky situation." Nick replied as he packed up the back with Atticus's help.

"Yeah, a twin kind of sticky situation." Atticus said.

Elizabeth hummed as she didn't seem very fond of Meredith herself.

"Excuse me, what is she doing here?" Meredith asked Nick about his ex.

"You see, that's part of the deal," Nick replied. "The four of us and that new puppy, we, go together."

"Along with me and Amber and Atticus and Mo." Darla said as she came out with her duffel bag packed.

"What about Little Miss Duchess of Darkness?" Meredith asked.

Atticus held out his phone to show Cherry on his Skype.

 ** _'I'll be there in spirit.'_** Cherry replied.

"Oh, that makes sense." Meredith said.

"Hello, everything all right?" Elizabeth walked over with a smile.

"Well, no actually it isn't," Meredith replied. "I didn't realize you and these others were going to this little outing. And to tell you the truth, I'm not so sure if I'm okay with it."

"Oh, but didn't Hallie's dad tell you that he and Hallie does this camping trip every year before she has to go back to school?" Darla smirked.

"Oh, Meredith, I absolutely insist you come along with us," Elizabeth then said which seemed to shock Meredith instantly. "Really."

"That sounds like a great idea." Atticus smirked.

"Liz..." Nick chuckled.

"Now honestly, Nick, I've messed up your entire weekend, the least I can do... Really, please..." Elizabeth insisted.

"Great, so she'll be joining along; great, this way we can see how she reacts to the wilderness." Mo smirked as she came out with her own duffel bag.

"Okay, Cherry, we're about to hit the road, I'll send you some pictures in a few hours." Atticus said.

 ** _'Ten four.'_** Cherry replied before signing off of Skype.

"Oh and Annie's mother, I hope you will still join us." Mo said, having a suspicion that she'll try to get herself out of this.

Elizabeth smiled nervously. "Oh, of course..."

"Truthfully." Mo said.

Domino walked up to Meredith with a smirk. "I'm going camping too~"

"Oh, joy." Meredith said through her teeth.

Domino chuckled.

Meredith knelt down and looked dead into his eyes. "You ruined my pumps, you little brat!" she growled quietly.

"Oh, and I might do worse for you for scolding a puppy." Domino glared.

"Oh, yeah? Like what?" Meredith smirked.

"If you hurt me, Mr. Parker might think you're not fit enough to be a new mother to Hallie or a good woman to have with me around." Domino smirked back.

"Oh, why, you little-!" Meredith glared.

"Ah, ah, ah..." Domino warned.

Meredith growled and she decided to just grin and bear it.

"This is going to be enjoyable." Mo smirked.

"Very much." Atticus chuckled as he texted what was going on to Cherry.

* * *

 ** _In Cherry's bedroom..._**

Cherry's phone vibrated and she saw what Atticus had texted her. "HA!"

And where she read Atticus's plan that he had texted her.

* * *

 ** _Back at the Parker's..._**

"What did she say?" Mo asked.

"LMBO." Atticus replied.

"In English?" Mo asked.

"Laughing My Butt Off." Atticus translated.

"Ohh." Mo smiled.

"Guess she's happy now." Atticus said as he put his phone back in his pocket.

Mo nodded as Nick then came to see if they were ready to go.

"We're ready." Atticus said.

"All right, guys, let's hit the road." Nick said.

"Owch." Domino and Annie cringed as they were not familiar with that metaphor.

"It means let's get going." Atticus told them.

"Oh..." Annie and Domino then smiled in understanding.

* * *

They were then saddled up and they were on the road for the camping trip which was part of Hallie and Nick's tradition. The only thing the twins didn't count on was Meredith.

"You think Annie and Hallie are gonna cook up a scheme?" Mo asked Atticus as she lay her head on his shoulder throughout the long ride to the camping ground.

"Possibly." Atticus said.

"What is Meredith doing here?" Hallie asked.

"She's coming with us..." Mo replied as she helped Domino come up to sit in Annie's lap on the ride over to the camping site.

"I thought her name was Cruella?" Domino asked, confused. "Then again, she's changed."

"No, no, no, that's just what we call her," Annie explained to the puppy. "You're safe from that devil woman, but right now, we have to worry about this devil woman."

"Can I pee on her again?" Domino then smirked.

"I don't think that would be wise." Mo said.

"Aww..." Domino pouted.

Elizabeth still decided to stay out of the camping trip while Meredith seemed forced to go along.

"Are you serious?" Mo asked.

* * *

Elizabeth and Chessy smirked though as they had a sneaky plan about Meredith going along on the trip. Hallie and Annie then looked to each other and decided to come up with plans themselves about the trip with their new step-mother to get her out of the picture. Atticus drove behind Nick and they were on the way to the camping grounds.

"This will be interesting." Mo said.

"Totally..." Atticus said as she rested against his chest while he drove with his other hand as his free hand was wrapped around her. "Too bad Cherry can't see this, she might actually love it."

"Thanks for letting me come too," Patch smiled as he put his head out the window and his tongue dangled out. "I'd like to see how well the twins and my nephew get along."

"No problem, Patch; besides, I don't want you to miss what they do to make Meredith lose it." Atticus said.

"I'm looking forward to it." Patch nodded.

Mo then yawned and fell asleep while snuggling into Atticus's chest. It took a while, but they finally made it.


	19. Chapter 19

Atticus smirked as Mo was against him. "Good morning, Sleeping Beauty~"

Mo then slowly woke up and looked up while blushing and pulled back once she realized she had been snuggling against him.

"We're here." Atticus said.

Mo smiled. "Great."

Annie and Hallie came to the teenagers.

"You guys wanna go on a hike?" Hallie asked with a smile. "Dad and I know the best trail."

"We're coming along anyways." Atticus said.

"Great!" Hallie smiled. "Come on, Annie, I'll show ya."

"Come on, Domino." Annie smiled down to her new puppy friend.

Domino then hopped out of the car and went behind the twins.

"Coming, Meredith?" Atticus smirked.

"I'm coming... I'm coming..." Meredith replied as she was being extra careful while the others ha no problem going through the trail, especially Hallie, Annie, and Domino.

"Having problems?" Mo smirked.

"Oh, I am gonna kill my trainer..." Meredith grumbled before sitting down on a rock.

"Come on, keep walking." Patch said.

Hallie picked up one rock and smirked as she had an idea.

"There is no way I'm letting a mutt tell me what to do." Meredith groaned as she sat down.

"You don't get out much, do you?" Mo asked.

"Man, and I thought Cherry wasn't the outdoors type..." Atticus scoffed about Meredith.

"Same here." Patch said.

"Why aren't we moving?" Domino complained.

"Meredith needs to stop for a water break." Nick said.

"My trainer says I'm in great shape..." Meredith complained as Annie secretly filled her bags with rocks. "I can't believe people actually do this for fun."

"Dad, we can't stop again, at this rate, it'll take us three years to get to the lake." Hallie complained.

"I agree." Mo said.

"Meredith just isn't used to the altitude, everybody just chill, okay?" Nick told the others.

"Fine." Patch said.

"I'm in serious pain..." Meredith pouted while Hallie and Annie hid smirks to each other.

"We can see that." Atticus said.

"Wah, wah, wah." Mo whispered which made Patch and Domino laugh.

"Need some water, Mer?" Atticus smirked.

"Somebody hand me my Evian, I can't move." Meredith replied.

"What's Evian?" Domino asked his uncle.

"It's like her drink to keep her hydrated." Patch said.

"Ah..." Domino then said in understanding.

Annie was about to give the bottle to Meredith until she spotted a lizard which made her smirk. "Brilliant..."

Hallie snickered once she saw that, but kept it quiet so Nick or Meredith wouldn't bust them.

"Here you go, Mer." Annie handed the bottle to the blonde woman with the lizard on the edge.

"This is going to be entertaining." Patch smirked.

Meredith took the cap off and didn't even say thank you which made Domino mad, but he then laughed once he saw the blonde woman's reaction to the lizard. Meredith's reaction not only made Domino laugh, but also Patch.

"Honey, you okay?" Nick walked over as he heard Meredith scream. "What happened?"

"This little guy was on her Evian bottle." Annie smiled as she picked up the lizard.

"Yeah, such a cutie." Mo smiled in agreement.

"Oh, he won't hurt you, Meredith." Nick also smiled.

"Oh, right, right, right, right, I know..." Meredith replied. "You, uh, go ahead... I'll be fine right here."

Mo then let the lizard walk on her arms and it then looked at Meredith at the end of Mo's hands.

" **GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!** " Meredith screamed. "I hate things that crawl! How can you all touch that?! Just put it down."

"Oh, you poor thing, so scared to death." Mo cooed.

The lizard seemed to really like Mo.

"You bet I am!" Meredith glared.

"I was talking to the lizard..." Mo glared back as she held the lizard. "Oh, you poor baby... Let's put you down somewhere nice and soft, yes...?" she then smirked as she put the lizard on Meredith's head.

The lizard soon winked at Mo, having an idea why she put him there. Mo winked back to the lizard.

"Girls." Nick called to his daughters.

"What?" Hallie and Annie replied.

"I'm going to take the lead with some of the others, the rest of you help Meredith." Nick replied.

"Oh, we will." Domino nodded.

Meredith muttered about the others helping her.

"Need some help?" Amber smirked at Meredith.

"Just what I need, you all helping me." Meredith glared.

"Hey, we're just wanting to help." Darla said innocently.

"Yeah... Right over a cliff..." Meredith scoffed as she then stood up and stormed off.

"Not a bad idea." Hallie whispered.

"Yeah, see any cliffs?" Annie whispered back in agreement.

"This bag is killng me." Meredith groaned.

"Need a hand, Mer?" Darla offered.

"Not from any of you, thank you," Meredith sharply turned to them. "Don't think I can't see right past those angelic faces. One more trick from you brats and I promise I will make your lives miserable from the day I say 'I do'. Got it?"

"Got it." Annie said.

"Cruella." Hallie muttered.

Meredith stopped again and sharply turned. " _What_ did you call me?"

"Nothing, nothing, not a thing... Cruella." Hallie replied as she walked with Annie, Darla, and Amber before muttering the name again.

Patch and Domino then followed the girls.

"Oh, by the way, Meredith; you have something in your hair." Darla said.

Meredith touched her hair until she then felt the lizard and she screamed out. The lizard then slid down her face and went inside her mouth. Meredith shook her head with a whimper and spit out the lizard as she suffered.

 _'Sounds like she got her surprise.'_ Patch thought to himself.

"Are you all right?" Nick rushed back over then looked to Meredith as Mo picked up the 'poor lizard'. "What happened?"

"Ask them!" Meredith gagged as she pointed to the four girls.

"Oh, sure, blame the little girls." Mo glared.

"What did we do, Dad?" Hallie asked innocently. "We were right behind you."

"That's right." Darla smiled innocently.

"Poor thing..." Mo pouted to the lizard. "I bet my little brother could take much better care of you than her."

The lizard nodded in agreement, looking scared.

"Oh, you poor thing..." Mo cooed. "I'll find you a much better home."

The lizard smiled at that once they were at a safe distance from Nick and Meredith, the lizard gave Mo a thumb's up as it was only acting scared.

Mo gave a thumb's up back with a giggle. "Such a clever little reptile."

"I know." The lizard smirked.

"Oh, very funny..." Mo chuckled as she then put the lizard in one of her vest pockets.

The lizard then slid in and poked its head out once it had enough space. "Ah, I love the view from up here."

"I thought you would." Mo smiled.

The lizard smiled back to Mo, feeling attached to her already.

* * *

Later that night, Atticus made a campfire and they were all eating trout to give it a try. That and S'Mores contained chocolate which meant that Patch and Domino would be left out of the evening meal.

"Dang it." Domino pouted.

"Don't worry, we'll be having trout so you and Patch can eat too." Atticus told them.

"Oh..." Domino then said. "Um... I don't think I like trout."

"Have you tried it?" Patch prompted.

"Well, no, but it's fish, right?" Domino pouted. "I don't think I like fish."

"You won't know until you try it." Patch said.

"But what if I don't like it?" Domino frowned.

"I always tell your sister to try new things..." Patch encouraged. "If you don't like it, I'll get you something, but please try it... For me..."

Domino sighed. "Okay, I'll try some of it."

"Thanks." Patch smiled.

Domino smiled back to his uncle. They all began to eat the trout, Atticus was unsure at first due to his connection to Atlantica and wasn't that crazy about eating seafood most of the time, but he did agree to the trout to give it a try as Mo was. The only one who didn't eat trout was Meredith. And where everyone enjoyed the trout.

"Now, aren't you glad you tried it?" Patch prompted his nephew.

"Oh, yes!" Domino beamed as he loved the trout.

"Want some?" Mo asked Meredith.

Meredith wrinkled her nose at the trout.

"It's good and good for you~" Amber pried.

"Oh, yes, it very much is~" Darla added.

Atticus smiled once Darla tried and liked the fish despite being disgusted by it at first, reminding her of broccoli.

"No, thank you." Meredith said.

"Suit yourself..." Mo shrugged as she ate the trout.

"Mm~" Domino really enjoyed the trout and then put his paws over his belly as he was now full.

"Uh-oh... I think someone is full." Annie laughed.

Domino let out a burp and cupped his muzzle. "'Scuse me."

"You're so cute." Annie smiled.

Domino smiled up to him.

"Isn't he, Mom?" Hallie then asked Meredith. "If that's okay if we can call you 'Mom'."

"Have some trout, Mom." Annie added in.

"I think your mother would prefer if you called me Meredith," Meredith replied as she tried to warm up by the fire. "And no thank you, I do not eat trout, for the thousandth time. I will wait until breakfast. What're we having?"

"Trout." Hallie, Annie, and Nick said together.

"That's basically what we'll be having on this trip." Mo said.

"Come on, it's part of the experience." Nick encouraged Meredith to give it a try.

"Yeah." Atticus said.

"Mm-hmm, and what's the other part?" Meredith complained. "Getting eaten alive by mosquitoes?"

"Have you tried to use bug repellent?" Mo asked.

"Yeah, but it's not working." Meredith said as she showed her bottle.

Nick soon tried it out himself. Meredith watched him.

Patch sniffed Nick and licked the substance. "Tastes more like sugar and water to me, no wonder she's a mosquito buffet."

"Where'd you get this?" Nick asked Meredith.

Meredith then gave a long and cold look over to the twins who then ate their trout to avoid conversation.

"You wanna get some sleep?" Mo suggested.

"You know, I think I will," Meredith replied. "I am taking one large sleeping pill and going to bed." she then took two sticks and clanked them together with every step she took.

"Uncle Patch, what's she doing?" Domino asked Patch.

"She's trying to scare off mountain lions." Patch laughed quietly.

"Meredith, there aren't any mountain lions here." Atticus said.

Darla and Amber snickered to that.

"There aren't?" Meredith asked.

Nick shook his head with a smile. "No."

"We're not even close to any mountains." Atticus said.

Meredith threw the sticks down and then came in front of Nick and kissed him right on the mouth. Hallie and Annie merely rolled their eyes. Nick normally would've enjoyed the kiss, but for some reason now, he didn't feel a thing.

"You didn't feel a spark of love, did you?" Mo whispered to Nick.

Nick looked to her and shook his head when Meredith wasn't looking.

"It's because your true love is Elizabeth." Atticus whispered to him.

Nick wasn't too sure about that.

"Good night..." Meredith told the others as she came inside the tent.

"Night." Mo and Atticus said.

"Cruella." Domino muttered.

Meredith didn't reply as she had already gotten into her tent.

"Girls, I'm telling you, lay off," Nick warned the others as he went back to eating his trout. "This isn't her thing, okay? I'm not marrying her because she's Annie Oakley."

"Who's Annie Oakley?" Annie asked.

Darla and Amber shrugged.

"Just cool it." Nick replied.

* * *

The full moon rose as the crickets chirped as the others were going to sleep. Patch and Domino went to a space together so they could howl. Hallie and Annie were going to do something that would surprise Meredith in a bad way.

"Don't stay up too late now, Domino." Patch said before yawning as he went into Atticus and Mo's tent.

Domino nodded and was on his way to the other tent until the girls had an idea and needed his help.

"Hey, Domino, can you come over here?" Annie whispered.

Domino looked over and came over.

"She's really heavy, do you mind lending a paw?" Hallie asked quietly.

"No problem." Domino smiled as he was super strong now like his uncle. He soon lifted up Meredith.

"Easy..." Hallie and Annie told him.

Domino nodded as he carried Meredith on her air mattress.

"I really hope that sleeping pill worked." Hallie said to herself.

Once the air mattress was placed in the lake, Meredith floated along. Domino gently kicked the air mattress as it drifted out to the water. Hallie and Annie cheered before hugging each other to get rid of who could've been their wicked step-mother.

"She's going to have quite a morning when she wakes up." Domino whispered.

Hallie and Annie giggled quietly as they then went back into the tent, now able to sleep peacefully. Domino joined them and mostly slept next to Annie more than Hallie.


	20. Chapter 20

The next day came faster than anyone knew and where Meredith woke up and saw something that wasn't her husband to be. It was a bird and she screamed out once she realized she was stranded before she fell into the water. " **NICKY!** "

"Sounds like someone is scared." Mo said.

Domino and Patch whined, Meredith's voice was so high and screechy, it could rival dog whistles. Everyone looked out to see her in the middle of the lake.

"Oh, man..." Nick frowned once he saw Meredith before she fell into the water and sent a look to Annie and Hallie, knowing they had something to do with this.

Meredith soon stormed out of the lake and towards Nick.

"She's mad..." Darla shivered.

"Surely now Mr. Parker will see Miss Blake's not the woman for her." Amber hoped and prayed.

Meredith was so mad that she kicked the kettle out of the way as she came to the man she 'loved'.

"What's goin' on?" Nick asked.

"Here's what's going on, buddy!" Meredith scowled. "The day we get married is the day I ship those redheaded brats off to Switzerland! Get the picture? I don't care if I have to send their friends with them and lock those mutts off to a Dog Pound! It's me or them! Take your pick."

Nick looked to his daughters and then smiled. "Them."

"Excuse me?!" Meredith glared.

"T-H-E-M, them," Nick replied. "And I'd love to have the puppy with Annie be apart of our family, they seem like best friends like Hallie is with Sammy.

"I don't care about those brats or their animals, all I care about is the money!" Meredith gasped once she realized she just spilled the beans of why she was going out with him and was wanting to marry him.

"Oh, is that right?" Nick replied.

"I didn't mean that, I..." Meredith trembled.

"I may not be human, but I am disgusted..." Domino huffed as he stood by Annie's foot.

"Stay out of this, mutt." Meredith glared.

Domino glared back.

"Meredith, I'm sorry, but I chose them," Nick replied. "Get the picture?"

Meredith shook slightly and screamed at the top of her lungs. Atticus soon took a picture of Meredith screaming before texting the photo to Cherry. Mo snickered at Meredith's misery.

"I guess you need to leave now." Darla smirked to Meredith.

"Why you little brat!" Meredith glared.

"Hey, I might've been a brat, but at least I changed." Darla glared back.

Meredith growled.

"Leave my best friend alone!" Amber glared as she showed a rare sign of anger.

* * *

Nick, Atticus, Mo, Darla, Amber, Hallie, Annie, Patch, and Domino soon made their way back.

"You'd really take me in as your own?" Domino asked Nick.

"You seem to get along nicely with Annie like when I adopted Sammy for Hallie," Nick smiled down to the puppy. "Welcome to the family, Domino."

"I'm happy to be apart of the family." Domino smiled.

Patch smiled as well as his nephew was very happy right now and it made him happy. He just hoped Dottie and Dipstick wouldn't miss him too much.

"Did we really have to be punished, Dad?" Hallie asked.

"We'll talk about this later, girls." Nick said.

Soon enough, they were pulling up to the driveway.

"Hallie's home!" Sammy barked in excitement.

"Hey, Sammy!" Domino smiled.

Patch joined his nephew to see Sammy and they all instantly became friends.

"Back so soon?" Elizabeth asked as they pulled up. "Did you have fun?"

"Well, I wouldn't go right for fun..." Hallie replied.

"You wouldn't?" Elizabeth asked.

"We've been punished to the end of the century." Annie replied.

"Starting now, GO!" Nick firmly told his daughters.

"At least you didn't get to marry that horrible woman." Mo said.

"Take Darla and Amber home." Nick told Atticus.

"Aww..." Darla and Amber frowned.

"Okay." Atticus said.

Darla and Amber pouted, but then gave goodbye hugs to Hallie and Annie, wishing them luck. Darla and Amber stared out the car window as they were going back home while the twins would stay with Elizabeth and Nick.

"Are we in trouble too?" Darla asked Atticus on the way home.

"No, you're fine," Atticus said before chuckling. "Besides, something deep down is telling me that Nick will realize he' still in love with Elizabeth."

"Same here." Mo agreed.

"But then why do I have a feeling he'll realize that only after Elizabeth, Annie, and Domino leave?" Cherry asked.

"There has to be something we can do..." Darla said as she waved as Amber's mom picked her up and drove her back home.

"We can be in London when they are together." Atticus said.

"I just want this to be a happy ending." Darla pouted.

"Oh... Come here..." Mo said before giving Darla a warm and comforting hug.

"Oh, trust me, it will." Atticus said as he brought out tickets for a flight to London.

Darla then looked from the hug and saw the tickets.

"When the time is right, we'll use these." Atticus smiled to his little sister.

"And is the time right?" Darla asked.

"Give it a day, we just came back home." Atticus said.

Darla then nodded and yawned as she went to get as much sleep as she could get until it would be time to go.

* * *

The next day came soon and where it seemed to be raining. The rain seemed to fit with the doomy and gloomy mood with Hallie and Annie's future with their parents still split up.

"We better go now." Atticus said.

"But it's such a beautiful day..." Cherry pouted.

"Still." Atticus said.

Darla was sound asleep in her bed.

"Darla, wake up, we're going to London..." Atticus gently shook her awake.

Darla sat up and yawned while rubbing her eyes. "Okay."

After she got dressed, they rushed to the airport. Darla fell asleep on the way, curled up into her blanket and nuzzled against the pillow. Atticus then helped her out once they had to start walking again.

* * *

Once they arrived at the airport, Darla could see Annie and Domino feeling sad. Coco, Beamer, Dottie, and Dipstick did the best they could to comfort Domino as he looked rather miserable.

"This is just not fair." Domino frowned.

"Oh, it'll be all right, sport..." Beamer attempted to soothe.

"Yes, all will be well..." Coco cooed.

Dottie and Dipstick comforted their son the best that they could.

"Thanks for letting me stay with Annie and her mum..." Domino told his parents.

"If she makes you happy, we're happy." Dottie smiled.

"Thanks..." Domino smiled back. "I'll be sure to visit when I can."

"No rush," Dipstick patted him on the head gently. "We sure will miss you, but it is time for you to leave the nest... Oh, wait, that's birds."

"I think it's a metaphor." Domino said.

"Your father was always the simple one." Dottie chuckled.

Domino hugged his parents with a small sniffle. Elizabeth and Annie waited under an umbrella so they could go back home now. Domino then joined them and followed them home. Once he got over to them, the three of them could now get home.

"Come along, Domino." Annie told the puppy.

"I'm coming." Domino said.

* * *

Domino ran into the house and gently shook himself dry once they came back into the house.

"Hello, we're home!" Elizabeth called.

"Grandfather?" Annie also called, but there was no answer.

"I'll check the study." Elizabeth told her daughter and new puppy.

Domino was still sad but then he smelled some familiar scents one of which was Hallie's scent and another scent was his favorite uncle's. Annie looked miserable as she then sat down and put her bag down.

"I have some good news~" Domino smiled to her.

"Oh?" Annie replied.

"Yeah and it's in the study." Domino said as he rushed to the study.

Annie then followed him.

* * *

Elizabeth came in, thinking her father was with his newspaper. "Hey, stranger."

"Hey, Mom," Hallie smiled as she put the newspaper down. "Did you know that Cherry's sister knows a Concorde that can get you here in half the time?"

"It's true." Cherry said as she appeared next to Hallie.

"Yes, I-I've heard that..." Elizabeth said, still shocked to see them.

Domino came running in and where Annie followed after him and where she soon saw her twin.

"Hey, what're you doing here?" Annie smiled to her twin.

"It took us thirty seconds after you guys left for us to realize we didn't want to lose you two again." Hallie said, standing up from behind the desk.

"We?" Elizabeth asked.

Then, as if on cue, Nick walked into the room with a smile to her. "We."

Domino soon went past him as he went to his favorite uncle.

Patch then hugged his nephew. "Hey, Domino."

"Hi, Uncle Patch!" Domino beamed.

"Let's listen to what Nick has to say." Patch whispered to his nephew.

Domino nodded and they then watched Nick as he approached Elizabeth.

"I made the mistake of not coming after you once, Lizzy," Nick said as he approached his ex-wife. "I'm not going to do that again no matter how brave you are."

"And I suppose you just expect me to go weak at the knees and fall into your arms and cry hysterically," Elizabeth replied. "And say we'll just figure this whole thing out, a bicontinental relationship with our daughters being raised here a-and there and you and I just... Picking up where we left off, and... Growing old together, and... And..." she then sighed. "Come on, Nick, what do you expect? To live happily ever after?"

"Yes, to all of the above," Nick replied as he cupped her face into his hands. "Except you don't have to cry hysterically."

"Oh, yes, I do." Elizabeth slowly nodded and the two then kissed on the lips.

And where they both felt the spark of love when they kissed. Annie and Hallie smiled warmly as their dreams had become reality.

"Aw!" Darla smiled.

Annie smiled and fell backwards into a chair.

"We actually did it." Hallie squealed.

"I knew it would end happily." Atticus said.

"Must you always be right?" Cherry deadpanned to her best friend.

"He always is." Mo said.

Cherry fluttered her lips while Atticus only chuckled and ruffled up her hair. Before everyone knew it, Nick and Elizabeth were remarried and made everyone that made this possible as guests to their new wedding and while they shared their dance together, Martin had proposed to Chessy and she of course agreed. More importantly, Hallie and Annie got to live with each other as sisters. They were then curious about their grandmother and Charles decided to tell them about her when he would get the chance as he had something very important to share with them about her which would lead to them having a new adventure together with their new friends.

The End


End file.
